


Shadowed Nights

by blackdragonqueen



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Incest, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-28 14:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 93,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackdragonqueen/pseuds/blackdragonqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SLASH! Moonless nights and creepy caves are the least of the worries for two half brothers, but when certain circumstances arise that force them together in said creepy cave insults are not the only things these two share. - - Currently on hiatus</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Darkest Hours

**Author's Note:**

> NOTICE: This story is unfortunately on hold until my Transformers story Cover Me is complete. I know, I'm so bad for giving you a taste and then ripping it all away! Please read anyway!

There was no moon…

That was never a good thing…

A delicate shadow raced frantically within the deep forest underbrush as fast as his feet could carry him; which wasn't fast enough since the lesser demons chasing his frenzied flight were gaining with each step. It was almost as if the very trees were reaching for the figure to hold him back, to ensure that he would not be able to escape his pursuers.

It was karma coming right back to bite him in the ass!

"Kuso!" the figure growled shooting an irate gaze at the sky. ' _Why does this shit always happen to me?_ ' he thought angrily as he took another sharp corner in hopes of losing his pursuers.

It wasn't going to work; he _knew_ that it wasn't going to work. He had first hand knowledge that _any_ demons senses were more heightened and the very sound of his heaving breathing gave away his every position, but it should buy him some time to come up a plan.

' _A plan… a plan, a plan, a plan…_ ' the thought continued to run rampant through his mind.

He dodged a few more trees and jumped as best he could over the entangled bushes.

' _Fuck, no plan_!' It was getting down right irritating. He never needed a plan before. Usually he just went out and did what he did best; which was kick the shit out of anything and everything that so much as looked at him wrong.

A pale, clammy hand clutched at the small sword at his waist in a vice like grip of desperation with a brief thought of fighting back, before the figure huffed and continued forward. This was the one night- the single most aggravating night that always arrived like clockwork each month- that rendered the small but deadly blade practically useless in his hands.

He continued his flight through the forest but that would not be able to save him. He could already feel the deep threads of fatigue creping upon his consciousness. He knew he would not be able to keep up this pace for long.

"DAMN IT!" the small figure bellowed. "Why? Why me? What did I ever do?"

The sky kept silent.

The figure cursed again and started to venture into the denser foliage of the forests. He could feel the uneven ground tear at his bare feet. Cutting and tearing into him as blood soaked into the ground in his wake.

' _This has just not been my night_!' the figure thought as he heard the gentle rumble in the distance. "Like it wasn't dark enough?" he growled in annoyance.

' _Just what I need- rain_ ,' the figure groaned as he squinted into the darkness. It was only years of honed instincts that he was even able to navigate the thick underbrush.

If only the demons had stumbled across him on a different night… ' _Keh, if it was a different night, they wouldn't have come after me at_ all!' The thought did little to help his current situation.

Slipping around another corner the figure quickly whirled away from the offered path of a small farm road. ' _They'll defiantly catch me if I'm in the open_ ,' the figure reflected as he moved back into the cover of the forest.

' _Why the_ Hell _did I have to leave the thrice damn village tonight of_ **all** _nights_?' he bemoaned as he continued on his uneven course.

It was really just a simple reason of miscommunication, he reflected, that led to the argument, which in turn led to the wild hunt he found himself in now. One small, insignificant comment that set off a chain reaction of screaming, shouting and finally leaving that small house that for the past year he could call somewhat "home".

He had wandered thought the entire day grumbling at the sheer idiocy of such a fight. It wasn't as if he went out of his _way_ to be hurtful. It wasn't as if he actively sought out to be cruel or spiteful. It had just been the way he had been raised…

…Or rather how he _hadn't_ been raised.

He had truly never been taught the way of proper manors, or the need to think before speaking. It was never the most important thing when he was smaller and later as a young child. The simple need of survival had been a primary concern and it was in those skills that he prospered and grew to the "young" man he was now.

There was never a need before for any type of "guiding hand" in how to function in society. He had never wanted anything to _do_ with society or any form of civilization since that painful day all those years ago when he was suddenly found himself so terribly alone.

Proper manners were the least of his worries when what was his only source of encouragement had been suddenly ripped away from him to gate of Hades and the underworld.

That pain of loss still hurt to this day.

Never before, however, had he ever been accused of such malice. By a _supposed_ _friend_ at that!

How a small simple fight over **food** could spin out of control as to come to the point of him actually leaving was something that was beyond his understanding.

He liked what he liked and to try and force a different view over years, over the _decades_ , of having a single mindset was bound to be a harsh battle.

What hurt him the most though, was that his so called "friend" was constantly trying to _change_ him. To coerce him to act a part that was so different from his normal habits and chastising him for simply being himself.

He shook his head to banish the horrifying trail of thought. ' _NO ONE can ever_ FORCE _me to do_ anything, _ **EVER**_!' he reassured himself.

In all his life, the only thing that was ever truly his and not gifted to him by _anyone_ was himself, and he would be damned if he allowed anyone to take that away. He was himself; thought sometimes it was difficult to remember who he truly was after years of cultivating his current persona. But there was enough time to contemplate that later.

' _Right now, I just have to live long enough to_ get _to later._ '

The figure finally lifted his gaze from the ragged ground he was running only to see a massive tree coming straight at him.

…Wait.

"Fucking _HELL_!" the figure cursed as he quickly tried to slide into a stop. It didn't work.

The momentum of his hurried flight drove him head on, and while he managed to avoid the large trunk of the tree, the full, thick branches managed to catch him dead in the face.

"Stupid Tree!"

The figure managed to catch his balance and took off once more. ' _Dawn, just have to make it to dawn_!' a mantra he continued to repeat in effort to bolster his resolve to survive. However dawn was still hours away and he could already feel what little strength he had left depleting and his reserves were close to nil.

Eyes that had faded from their normally sharp golden hue to a springy light bronze darted frantically around looking for any possible way to escape. Anything would be better than to actually be caught by these small fries. After fighting and defeating _countless_ stronger demons among other things, to be finally killed by a couple of lesser demons really stung at the figure's pride.

It was perhaps one in a long line of mistakes that night that was his downfall… literally.

With his gaze away from the path in front on him, it was just a simple stone that finally brought him down. The figure hit the ground with a bang and aches that never before were any concern suddenly took on a life of their own as his body seared with pain.

Blood was pooling in his mouth and he hastily spat the blood and perhaps a tooth or two out as he tried to stand. Sharp needles suddenly coursed upward from his ankle and he stumbled again to his knees gasping for air as he clutched the paining limb.

That was when the fact that he was not alone finally registered.

A glance over his shoulder confirmed that the three demons had indeed caught up and were staring at him with actual glee.

"A human," one rasping voice snarled in confusion. "A human but not…"

"Who cares?" another hissed. "It's lunch now."

"You want to try it ugly?" the human spat as he finally did pull the sword from his waist. It was not exactly useful at the moment, but it was something and all he had. Grasping a low hanging branch from the tree beside him, the figure was finally able to pull himself into a standing position holding the sword before him in a shaking hand.

The demons gurgled with laughter at his small attempt of protection. "What do you think you can do with that?"

"Any damn thing I can!" he shouted lifting the sword higher. "You think that I'm going down with out a fight and you are fucking out of your mind!"

Another gurgle. "There is nothing you can do, human. We are demons. We are hungry. You are food. That is the way of things."

"That's what you think if you assume that I'm just another weak pathetic human! I will not be defeated by the likes of _YOU_!" and with that the figure lunged swinging the sword in a large arch before steel struck flesh and the blade caught the side of the lead demon.

It roared out in fury as it reared back and swung a massive hand at the fragile human skull.

Instinct once more took over and it was the only way the human was able to doge the killing blow but it proved too much for his injured ankle as pain once more came to the fore front of his mind.

He went down screaming as a second demon managed to strike him from behind. The instant he felt himself hit the ground, the figure rolled quickly as far as the small clearing allowed before bounding back on his good leg. He had managed to keep his sword and held it once more before him, the only thing between him and a very close encounter with a demons digestive tract.

The demons gurgled in laughter again. "Such a troublesome little thing," the third finally spoke. "This one has spirit."

"Or stupidity," the leader spoke again. "Do you really think that you can defeat us little brat?"

"If I can't," the human rasped, "I'll at least be sure to take you down with me!"

With a wild swing of the sword the figure lunged once more at the three looming fiends.

It was really no surprise when the sword was bashed from his hands. Pain seared throughout his body as one of the lesser demons blows connected and sent him slamming into trunk of a colossal tree.

Blood was now spilling freely over his body, soaking and blending into the red of his garments.

"This grows tiresome," the second demon stated with a bored tone. "Kill him and be done with it!"

The human gritted his teeth as the lead demon took firm hold of him and slammed him back against the tree once more for good measure. Lifting him upward until he was completely off his feet, the human wrinkled his nose as the foul smell of unwashed sweat and decaying meat wafted at him.

"It is time to die, filth!"

A small smirk graced the wounded features. "Have it your way," and a small foot shot out to kick at the creature holding him.

The demon didn't even flinch as it grasped the small ankle of the only un-injured leg.

A pained scream managed to tear away from his throat as the slender appendage was slowly crushed under the inhuman strength.

The demons gurgled again with mirth.

' _That sound is the most irritating noise I have ever hear_.' It was a stupid fleeting thought but it was how he actually felt.

The weight suddenly left his ankle before it suddenly appeared around his lean throat.

"You have given us a most entertaining night human," the harsh voice growled, "however, all things must come to an end."

His vision was going.

Darkness that had nothing to do with the absence of the moon slowly crept forward from the corners of his eyes and small spots danced in front of his vision. Air was slowly escaping from his lungs as he desperately clawed at the thing grasping his throat. A growing rumble sounded from the sky above as the rain was finally released from their cloudy prisons onto the creatures below.

A whimper left his throat…

A roar left that of another…

Pressure lifted as he was suddenly dropped like a mere child's doll to fall in the forming mud. Screams echoed thought out the dense forest and the metallic smell of blood assaulted his senses as the human engulfed much needed breaths of air.

Growls and snarls were a low undercurrent of the lesser demons piercing screams of death until a sudden hush descended.

There was not a single sound other that his own gasping breaths and the soft pelting of the rain on the canopy of the leaves above as his vision slowly came into focus. His eyes slowly took in the sight of the three mutilated forms of the dead demons before finally managing to look away at the thing that so easily kill them.

He saw a massive shape of white and instant recognition took hold. There was a simple word that floated thought his mind as darkness crept upward once more.

"Crap."


	2. Reluctant Rescuer

There was no moon…

It could have been worse…

' _It could be raining_ ,' a silent figure thought as it prowled thought the still woods.

It was just as this thought passed through his head when there was a sudden shift of wind and the smell of water drifted on the air.

' _Well fuck_ ,' the figure chuckled to himself before continuing on his path now with the purpose of seeking appropriate shelter from the impending storm. The wind blew from the north so the figure turned southwards, deeper into the woods hoping to find something that would be able to cover his substantial physique.

It was peaceful for being the middle of the night. There was no sound of any of the nocturnal creatures that usually prowled the woods, even with his enhanced demon hearing. There was hardly any sound at all. Just the simple swoosh of wind rustling leaves and the figures own peaceful breathing.

As he wandered with his slow, uneven gait he occasionally paused in the hopes of finding some shelter for his large form only to be disappointed and moved on. While he wasn't in his full sized form that came with a full release of his powers, he was still rather big. He stood towering at a good nine feet high at the shoulders; thus, his current problem of finding any trace of suitable shelter. He was glad he had left his somewhat unwanted companions in the shelter of small outcropping of rocks near the river earlier that morning before wandering off into the woods.

They never understood why every month he had to leave them for two or three days- especially the small child. However, in truth, it was safer for them to stay away. His companions always treated him as a leader but he had to always remember that he was a demon, first and foremost…

And a demon needed no one.

It was actually quite refreshing to be alone if even for a few days.

There was hardly ever a moment that the demon had all to himself. There was always someone following him, whether it was allies or enemies, that it seemed as if there was never any end to them.

It was why he had been so insistent to his subordinates those years ago that he leave his childhood home and go out into the world to "further educate" himself rather than taking up the duties that had been suddenly dumped upon his shoulders on the death of his sire.

' _Something that should have been_ mine _to take,_ ' the demon reflected as he continued his shuffled walk through the forest, keeping a keen eye on anything that could possibly be used as a temporary lodging. ' _It was my right, not something to be wasted on that…_ ' the figure growled low in his throat.

In demon hierarchy, it was not just simply inheriting by birth and blood. Whether he was the eldest child or not, his right to succeed his title was in his ability to kill his predecessor. But as such a lowly human had killed his father, the right of Lord automatically fell to him as the eldest living offspring of the former lord. This chain of authority had been in practice since the old times in order to keep away war and bloodshed from falling upon the lands in a fight for succession.

The death had essentially left him as the youngest lord ever to take upon a region and he knew that his father's councilors had hated him from the start. It was way it was applicable for all parties involved that he left the palace immediately on his so called "quest" after his fathers demise.

And from what he heard in his servant's yearly reports, everything was running just fine without him.

It was the distant rumble of thunder that reminded him of his hunt and he had just found what looked to be a promising shelter of low hanging branches when he heard it.

"DAMN IT! Why? Why me? What did I ever do?"

It was such a sudden outburst in the tranquility of the forests that the demon suddenly froze. He tilted his head to hear better just incase something sounded again.

Silence.

More silence.

' _Perhaps I'm going mad_ ,' the demon thought with a sour note. ' _That almost sounded like it was_ -'

"Fucking _HELL_!"

The sound of someone crashing into thick underbrush reached his sensitive ears and the demon almost groaned.

"Stupid Tree!" the voice continued

' _It is_ ,' he growled as the echo of the voice once more bellowed in the stillness. ' _Like I don't run into him enough_?' he thought in aggravation. ' _Of all the stupid, pain in the ass luck, why the in the nine hells do I have to run in to_ him?'

Almost heaving a sigh, the demon started turning away from the irritating noise when a resounding "bang" suddenly reached his sensitive ears.

Even the large form had to cringe at the sound. ' _That just had to hurt_ ,' he thought as he started to resume his path. Tonight was not the night for him to encounter his sworn enemy, as there was no possible way for him to rightfully combat him in his current form. He wanted to defeat him sword against sword. The last and only time he had ever fought him in his current condition had left him with a constant reminder of the encounter in every step he now took.

He had only gone a few feet when another voice reached his ears…

"Such a troublesome little thing. This one has spirit."

And then another…

"Or stupidity. Do you really think that you can defeat us little brat?"

The first one responded back in ever annoying fashion. "If I can't, I'll at least be sure to take you down with me!"

If it weren't so uncouth, he would have rolled his eyes. ' _Not good to taunt them idiot_.'

The sound of feeble fighting soon followed that announcement and the demon finally turned and headed towards the noise.

' _What has that baka gotten himself into now_?' the demon thought as he made his way through the thick trees towards the ringing sound of battle.

Suddenly there was silence once more.

The figure almost turned away again in exasperation when one of the deeper voices stated, "This grows tiresome, kill him and be done with it!"

' _What_?' the demon couldn't help but wonder in shock as he turned back and hurried as fast as his uneven gate could manage.

The smell hit him first. That familiar smell of blood that assaulted his delicate nose and sent shockwaves straight to his brain.

It was confusing for a moment.

It wasn't the same smell that he had ever associated with the recognizable voice that he heard. Somehow the smell was… different. The same undercurrent but with the heaver scent of…

' _Impossible_ ,' the demon thought and increased his speed.

He soon found himself by a small clearing looking down from the slight hill where he emerged from the trees.

He saw red.

Red was soaking the ground as a small figure was suddenly grabbed by one of the demons and slammed into a tree.

The demon on the hill was frozen at the scene below him and just stared in utter disbelief.

It _was_ him! It really was _him_ down there but then it wasn't.

' _Shocking,_ ' the demon concluded as he watched the small human below him.

There was always wondered if the small rumor about those kinds held any truth and _here_ was actual proof that it did. He didn't know how to make heads or tails out of it now that the genuine article was right there in front of him.

' _Hmph. Just one more thing that makes those_ things _even more inferior to our kind_ ,' he thought as he tilted his head in curiosity. He wondered fleetingly what it was that actually had brought about this change, and why in all the heavens that the smaller figure hadn't sought shelter in this, his weakest moment.

The demon scoffed to himself. ' _The most dangerous mistake I ever made was believing that_ he _was weak_.'

Watching intently at the scene that played out before him the demon settled down for a show.

It seemed as if his acquaintance was loosing as he watched the desperate attempt of kicking the demon away.

' _What in the world does he think doing_ that _will accomplish_?' he sneered as he saw the lesser demon easily catch the offending leg.

There was stillness for a moment before the grotesque hand left the human's leg and grasped the pale throat.

The larger form on the hill almost caught himself holding a breath as he watched the play by play; wondering what trick the smallest of the figures had in store.

Nothing happened.

He waited.

"You have given us a most entertaining night human," the lead lesser demon growled, "however, all things must come to an end."

And he waited.

And he waited.

It was puzzling.

' _Why in the world is he hesitating_?'

He waited still; completely convinced that something major was about to happen to turn the tide of favor to the human.

The human clutched at the stronger arm that held him. Clawing with his feeble fingernails that were completely incapable of piercing the demon's thick, leathery hide.

' _We're nothing alike_.' The demon thought as he stared at the small, pinned form below. ' _We hate each other_.'

The human started to claw even more frantically.

' _We're sworn to kill each other_.'

It was then that a sound finally floated upward on the increasing wind.

It was a sound that he would never expected to _ever_ hear from the throat of his greatest enemy.

He heard a whimper…

…And he _knew_ he could no longer ignore the situation.

With a mighty roar, the great white being leapt into the fray.

Completely ignoring the now pelting rain that immediately drenched his fur the larger demon briefly took note of the human's gasps of air before turning all his attention to methodically killing each and every one of the three pathetic demons that _dared_ too try and take away what was his kill by right. He could not allow anyone else to murder the human. His pride would never allow it. He viciously squelched down any small part of him that dared to voice otherwise.

It wasn't much of a fight as demon fights go. The splash of the rain a momentary distraction as the Great Demon took on all three of the lesser demons without even batting an eye.

Even handicapped as he was, the lesser demons never stood a change as the Great Demon easily tore them apart. Claws and fangs ripping into flesh and blood soon coated the forest floor as body parts were strewn about.

One lesser demon tried to stab him with the human's fallen sword.

Rage filled him.

The sight of such a magnificent weapon in the hands of a _lesser_ was an insult to him and to the memory of the one who carried the weapon before.

With a growl, the great demon grabbed the smaller creature in his massive jaws and "snap". With a mighty chop, bit the disgusting thing in half.

Dropping the thing in repulsion the great white being turned back towards the collapsed form of the human. Sitting down on his haunches, the demon waited for the human to finally register his presence.

It was a while as the human continued his awkward gasps and struggled to pull himself upwards into a semblance of sitting.

Amazement was not something the demon had ever felt before as he saw once golden eyes finally open and slowly focus on his surroundings. It was so odd to see such a familiar person look so foreign before him.

Glancing at the mutilated corpses, the human finally turned his dark eyes to him.

The human promptly stopped breathing all together.

Gold eyes met deep bronze and locked.

It was a staring contest until the human swayed and finally managed to mutter the word "crap" before finally giving into shock and fainted dead away.

The Great Dog Demon stared in complete frustration at the unconscious figure and wandered over to nose at the limp form of his enemy, of his brother.

' _Well fuck_.'


	3. Lacking Direction

Sesshoumaru stared down at what was the limp form of his brother Inuyasha and suppressed the urge to growl in frustration. He nosed the small figure again and when it did not entice a response he cursed again.

' _What the hell am I suppose to do now_?' the dog demon wondered as he glanced around the small clearing for any semblance of an idea.

His lip curled at the mutilated corpses of the lesser demons and the stench that was rapidly steaming from the oozing husks.

' _Well, can't stay here,_ ' he thought as he was sure the stench would bring even more demons to the area to feed. Sesshoumaru felt his stomach turn at the thought. ' _Damn lesser demons._ ' A quick look at Inuyasha again, ' _damn hanyou._ '

He couldn't leave the boy. Not as a human. He would be eaten before he even regained consciousness. The temptation was very strong however. His demon instincts were urging him to just leave the boy and allow him to be eaten; the warrior in him was telling him that even the cursed half human child deserved a more honorable death of a warrior in battle that being eaten by lesser demons.

It was a very brief inner struggle. While he prided his demon heritage and often followed his more sadistic urges, the warrior's pride had been instilled in him by years of battles and the longing to finally defeat the one that was the strongest in the world.

Sighing again, the large dog like creature wandered over and nosed the now human over onto his stomach and leaned down to take the collar of the blasted fire-rat robe firmly between his teeth.

Lifting his head slightly to test the stability of the grip, Sesshoumaru affirmed that it was strong and lifted Inuyasha completely off the ground.

It was odd to have the constantly moving and boisterous half demon to suddenly be rendered completely limp and silent.

' _Fuck. What a damn pain in the tail,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought as he once more started out to find suitable shelter for him and now his unconscious baggage.

Growling at the current situation did not help him find any shelter and with a flick of his tail, he moved back the way he though he had come in hopes of finding that promising patch of foliage again.

As he continued onward however, he realized immediately that his one damn weakness had once again reared its ugly head and his sense direction was completely non-existent.

It was amazing that Rin or Jaken never realized that they were almost always going in constant circles.

Not that Sesshoumaru would _ever_ admit it.

Perhaps Jaken knew, but he was in such awe of his lord that Sesshoumaru knew that he would never be one to point out any faults of his master. It was frustrating though. It wasn't as if he could go out and procure a map, demons had no need for a map...

…Just him.

It just seemed that no matter what direction he took off in, he _always_ seemed to find himself back in that damn region by that sickening human village Inuyasha seemed to hover about while promptly ignored the little voice inside him yelling that he was being decisively obtuse.

Speaking of the village…

The demon stopped dead, his ears perked as he listened.

He could not hear Inuyasha's companions.

They were not within the region shouting his name as they always had in all the past encounters he had with his hated enemy.

Nothing.

Silence.

' _What the fuck_?'

Never before had he ever been _alone_ with his unwanted relation. It seemed as if that damn eccentric human priestess in the strange cloths was always at Inuyasha's side.

He glanced down at his burden as best he could in the current position with an odd look of confusion. ' _How did he_ ever _get away from her blasted presence_?' Sesshoumaru wondered as he started off once more.

It seemed as if hours had passed when in truth it had only been thirty minuets when Sesshoumaru realized that he had passed the same bush at least three times. ' _Fuck,_ ' Sesshoumaru groaned as he shifted his stance and looked around in frustration. There was no sign of any shelter and the demon was beginning to seriously worry about the hanyou turned human when he spotted it.

Through the dense trees there was a glimpse of a rock face. The Great Demon almost sagged with relief as he emerged from the forest to come to a small cliff. If anything, it would buffer them from the biting wind.

He started to follow along the wall in search of some sort of shelter when he suddenly wondered if he would soon stumble upon Jaken and Rin. Though, there was no smell of the river, it could just be hidden by the overwhelming current of the rain.

' _Um, perhaps I should go back to the woods_ ,' Sesshoumaru wondered as his pace slowed considerably.

Running into his charges in his true demon form and carrying his sworn enemy who suddenly had become human and looked to the entire world like he was **dead** would not be the most triumphant scene in his life.

' _Hell_ ,' he chuckled as he gave himself and his burden a once over, ' _we look more like drowned rat-demons that the warriors we are._ '

Suddenly he was attacked.

Or, at least that's what he told himself as he jumped a full foot in the air when a furry creature abruptly darted out in front of him.

It was so startling that Sesshoumaru instantly bristled and bared his teeth even more in instant reaction before mentally smacking himself and dismissing the small whatever it was, concentrated instead on where it had come from.

Coming around a small bend, he found what he had been looking for.

' _Praise the Great Powers,_ **finally**!' Sesshoumaru nearly sagged in relief.

There, hidden behind a cluster of rocks from some long past rockslide, a large cave that offered the much sought after shelter.

' _About damn time something went right_ ,' he thought as he managed to squeeze his massive size through the narrow entrance into the widening darkness beyond. ' _I thought I'd never find any shelter._ '

Demon eyes adjusted quickly and Sesshoumaru looked quickly for any other occupants that may have also taken up temporary residence. Disregarding the rat that quickly darted back into its hole, there was nothing.

It was fairly large, almost the size of the great hall of his fathers, and he still referred it as his fathers, palace. Immediately dropping his burden, Sesshoumaru quickly went to the other side and shook out the vast amount of water that collected on his fur. Circling a spot along the wall, the demon lowered himself down and simply stared at the slumped form across from him.

Inuyasha was still unconscious.

Sesshoumaru shifted in impatience but still the hanyou remained unaware. He snorted in annoyance.

' _Stupid pest is more trouble that anything,_ ' Sesshoumaru though as he studied the slumped form, ' _so why am I letting him live_?'

No answer was forthcoming.

' _Fuck._ '

It was a few moments as he contemplated the situation that Sesshoumaru finally managed to comprehend what it was that he was actually seeing as he stared at the hanyou.

Inuyasha was shivering.

It was so unexpectedly surprising that Sesshoumaru almost mentally slapped himself once more.

' _Stupid frail human bodies,_ ' he reminded himself as he once more staggered back to his feet and crossed the massive room to the small body that was by now practically convulsing with the strength of the cold.

Sesshoumaru paused as he stood over the body, wondering if he could do _anything_ else in his current form that what he knew was his only option. It wasn't as if he could build a fire as a dog demon.

' _Fuck and fuck again_ ,' Sesshoumaru groaned as he once more lowered himself down. This time, he curled around the slump form that was already starting to look a little blue. Ensuring that he wasn't dripping any of his acidic saliva, for Inu Youkai never drooled; he placed his tail on top of the shivering hanyou.

It was a while, but finally, the shivering slowed and a faint tinge of red began to flush into his cheeks. The only thing he had to worry about was if the human would catch a fever from his unwanted shower.

Now that he was closer, Sesshoumaru continued his study of the new characteristics of the hanyou now in full human form.

He couldn't help it.

It was too fascinating for Sesshoumaru to ignore.

He brought his head down and took a long sniff.

' _Defiantly different,_ ' he thought as he analyzed the smell and compared it to what he knew was Inuyasha's original scent.

The smell of youki was almost completely gone. There was only a very feint trace of it beneath the smell of human sweat that was almost unbearable. Feeling his nose twitch, he then took in Inuyasha's altered physical appearance.

Silver to black, that was the most obvious as he looked at the hair. It was so odd to not see the small koinu ears that always sat permanently perked upon his head. Now, he had the small round ears of a human. Not even a single point that signified a demon in human guise but a curved shell of a bland human ear.

' _Boring,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought as he continued on.

Bringing his gaze back further, he took in his unwanted brother's face.

It was the same… yet it wasn't.

It was almost smoother, less angular than his hanyou form. And even under the paleness of cold, Sesshoumaru knew that Inuyasha's skin had actually darkened with his human appearance. Or perhaps that was just an effect of the silver hair that made him look paler in hanyou form.

Glancing at the rest of the slimed figure of the human, Sesshoumaru snorted in annoyance again before turning his attention to the entrance to watch as the rain fell as he allowed his mind to wander.

It had always been just a rumor that half demons sometimes shifted into humans, but it was never anything that anyone had any solid evidence on. It was always heard from a friend of a friend who knew a hanyou. There was even wild stories that sometimes the hanyou's went even crazier that a full demon and went on killing rampages.

But from the scene with the lesser demons, it had appeared to Sesshoumaru that Inuyasha was in possession of all, or rather what little he normally possessed, of his sanity.

He wondered how long Inuyasha would be forced to stay in this form. It was without a doubt that once he was back into his hanyou form, that his demonic blood would immediately overtake any illness and heal any injury. However it could be days or weeks before this what ever it was finally faded for Inuyasha to change back.

The thought of having to nurse a sick runt of a hanyou irked at the demon lords nerves.

It was odd, to find his brother trapped in his full human form as he was trapped in his full demon form.

Though it never happened before, there was never any telling what he would do in his current form. For two hundred years, with no explanation, he always transformed to his true demon form on the night of the new moon. It was never heard of in his clan to just suddenly revert back to their other self and there was no healer in any of the clans that could explain why it was that he was changing.

The first time he suddenly found himself changing, he had assumed that it was stress from the loss of his father. Then it happened the next month and then again during the next new moon. It was getting rather irritating. Deciding against his original idea that it was his youki mourning his lost parent, he then thought that it was perhaps just some sort of a phase as he matured; but as the decades and then centuries passed, he began to take his transformation as a normal occurrence and no longer wondered at the meaning of it. (Again, he ignored the small voice as it finally screamed in frustration and went silent.)

' _Perhaps it's a demonic version of the hanyou curse_?' he wondered before dismissing the idea. It was so odd though. To be trapped in his Demon form without the ability to change back.

It wasn't as if he lost his mind during those periods, but the instincts of a full Inu Youkai was a very dangerous thing to anyone around. The very reason he had left Rin and Jaken behind and traveled as far as his direction sense would allow him.

Sighing, or at least sighing as much as he could in dog form, he once more glanced down at the sleeping boy.

It was then that he saw deep bronze eyes staring at him right back.

Inuyasha was awake.


	4. Injuries and Irritations

It was so very frustrating.

First it was cold, then hot, then cold again.

This was why he hated it when he shifted to human form. Too many things that never had _any_ effect on him suddenly brought to the forefront: the cold, the sticky feeling of wet cloths…

…The sharp throbbing pain radiating from his ankle.

Inuyasha bit back a groan as the memories of the lesser demons and of his flight through the forest returned.

And then he remembered how it was that he was still breathing.

' _A dream,_ ' he thought to himself as he steeled his resolve to open his eyes. ' _It was all just a freaking nightmare and when I open my eyes, I'll be back in the old stinking village with everyone yelling at me as usual about being stupid._ '

Inuyasha slowly open his eyes.

Black.

That's all he saw, just a vast sea of darkness. He blinked and wondered if it was a result of the head wound he received. He had never experienced such a massive head wound in a battle before, but then again all those times he wasn't trapped as a human.

Quickly blinking his eyes in rapid succession, he once more tried to see exactly what his current predicament was.

Still dark.

' _What the hell_?' Inuyasha squinted with his weaker human eyes. He was use to having his vision somewhat dampened in human form and when the moon was hidden it was even darker but this was beyond black. He mentally cursed again as his nose was absolutely no help and decided to try listening for any clues as to where he was. He was lying down, for that he was sure as the sound of rain was coming from somewhere above his head.

And he could faintly pick up soft breathing.

' _Crap_ ,' he though as he finally understood what it was that he was feeling under his hands, ' _fur._ ' Almost holding his breath, he lifted his eyes upward and strained to see if there were any large sized teeth bearing down to chomp his head off. It was still dark for a while before suddenly golden eyes that lit with an unnatural inner brightness pinned his.

They stared at each other for what was an eternity.

Then Inuyasha opened his mouth.

"What the fucking _hell_?" he shouted as he quickly scrambled backwards away from the large creature.

It wasn't very far due to his current condition and Inuyasha paused to wince as pain once more throbbed upward from his ankle. Forcing himself to ignore the pain, he concentrated on staring at the large dog demon.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded and winced as his voice echoed back to him. They were inside, now that he was certain of but his vision was still impaired and the only thing that was visible to the deep metallic eyes was the eerie glow of the Inu.

' _Sesshoumaru,_ ' Inuyasha wondered in amazement. ' _The one person in the entire world who hates me more than life itself was actually the one who saved my ass._ '

Sesshoumaru.

The one who hated humans even more than hanyou's, actually coming to Inuyasha's aid when he was transformed into the very thing that Sesshoumaru despised; it was completely and utterly baffling. Even when they tentatively joined forces to defeat the Hell's sword Sounga, they were trying to kill each other.

' _He's been trying to kill me every single time we run into each other_! _Hell, the first time we met, he told me flat out that it would be him who would kill me,_ ' Inuyasha reminded himself.

The memory was still sharp in his mind.

His mother had once told Inuyasha that he had a full demon brother out there somewhere that his father had often spoken of to her with pride. Izayoi had always mentioned it in passing, and only when Inuyasha childishly asked if he perhaps looked like his brother did she confess that she had never met Sesshoumaru.

So when it was, a few months after his mothers death when he was just twelve years old and banished into the wilds of the world by his so called "family", that the appearance of another being with the same silver hair and golden eye as his Inuyasha knew it was his demon brother.

To say he was confused when all Sesshoumaru said to him was "I will be the one to kill you, Inuyasha" before promptly leaving him would be an understatement.

Something he quickly overcame when trying to simply survive against adult demons, natural wildlife predators and the very element that seemed to conspire against the young child. The need of food soon outweighed the need for companionship and Inuyasha soon forgot about his brother until that fateful night when Sesshoumaru appeared in search of their father's fang, the Tetsusaiga.

Inuyasha shuddered and tried to crawl further into the caves walls.

Sesshoumaru, for his part, was slightly amused at the mad dash by the hanyou to get away from him and simply snorted in response to the boy's questions, ' _like I could answer you nit wit._ '

It wasn't as if he would have answered Inuyasha even if he could. There was never once where they were in any semblance of agreement as they both tried to kill each other at every turn.

Or rather, it was Sesshoumaru trying to kill off his disgrace of a sibling at every turn.

He could still remember that first glimpse of his hated relation.

He had known of Inuyasha's existence and that the child lived within his borders hidden away in a lord's palace miles and miles from where his father had died. Rumor had it that the child was the offspring of a beloved relative of the lord and it was the only reason the hanyou could claim any form of shelter from those who would do him harm.

Not that a meager threat of humans would keep the great Lord Sesshoumaru from killing the very thing that was his fathers downfall and denied him the chance of perfecting his strength and power. It was by his grace alone that the child and his whore of a mother were even still breathing and never mind what they thought of him.

He had told the human woman as much in a letter he sent stating that Inuyasha had been completely disowned by his demon family and would be killed on sight if the child ever so much as took one step within a mile of the demon palace.

So a year went by. Then two. Then three, and Sesshoumaru could not contain his curiosity any longer. Hanyou or no, any child that had been sired by the great Inu Taisho had to have _power_. With out a word to his councilmen, he left the palace and crept like a common thief into the courtyard of the human palace.

It was with some surprise that he found the child alone. Knowing how detested any half child was, it was still odd to see such a young one so alone sitting at the edge of a Koi pond trying to play with the fish that swam there.

Sesshoumaru had left as quietly as he had arrived; wondering at the small, silent form. The child was defiantly _not_ what he had been expecting. The silver hair, a trademark of the great Inu Clan, paled in comparison to the two small koinu ears that sat perched upon that silvery mane.

It had been disturbing, to say the least.

At the current moment, however, the _lack_ of those ears disturbed Sesshoumaru even more. It seemed as if his koinu ears were not the only things Inuyasha was currently missing as he had practically dragged himself to the other side of the cave in his attempt at safety.

It was interesting to see the normal grace of the hanyou's poise suddenly replaced by the awkward clumsiness of the human form. ' _It's almost as if he has no center of balance when he's human_ ,' he mused as he watched the boy's frantic scrambling. ' _Then again, that ankle must be paining him._ '

Inuyasha sat there staring at him for a full minuet. Nothing was said as the two simply looked at each other. The rat darted out of his hideaway and scurried along the wall but neither paid it any mind.

"Well?" Inuyasha finally couldn't stand it. "Why don't you shift back into your normal, ugly self and tell me what you want!"

Sesshoumaru ears twitched and he instantly bared his teeth, emitting a soft growl at the "ugly" comment. ' _Unlike you who could_ never _transform into a full youkai you idiot, I at least have the ability_!'

He continued to bare his teeth slightly for a while and nearly smirked as best he could in his current form when Inuyasha visibly backed down, slumping his small shoulders and breaking the eye contact.

The alpha in him immediately recognized the submission and ceased the show of aggression. ' _Hmph. If only he would show this side of himself more often I would suffer far fewer headaches,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought briefly as he stared at Inuyasha for any signs of more defiance.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, was currently suffering from a panic attack. ' _Okay- big scary teeth! Do not insult Sesshoumaru when in full demon form,_ ' he tensed, holding his breath as he waited for some form of retaliation. Sesshoumaru was not known for having a passive temperament.

He knew he was being cowardly, but at the moment he didn't exactly care. With the absence of the moon, all of his youkai bravado had promptly become dormant for the evening and his human instinct were telling him that his head was left best where it was. ' _Damn, why do I always act before thinking_?' he wondered in aggravation.

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched in irritation before he returned his gaze to the rain, completely dismissing the hanyou. ' _Idiot,_ ' he thought. ' _Like I would waste breath talking to you._ ' He watched as the rains begin to pick up and the wind howled as it passed through the entrance of the cave.

Inuyasha stared in disbelief when the demon simply dismissed him. "You're not going to kill me?" The words were out of his mouth before he could quash them and Inuyasha groaned at the show of weakness, however slight.

Sesshoumaru's eyes once more swiveled to him and they eyed each other. He snorted again before turning to again watch the rain. _Anything_ was better than staring at his unwanted companion.

Inuyasha had remained tense for a few more moments as Sesshoumaru continued to ignore him until the chill of the wind finally started to penetrate his still damp cloths. "Fuck," he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around himself. He started shivering once more and started to rub his hands along his arms to create some form of warmth.

Bringing his leg towards himself, Inuyasha started to gently probe the injury. While the ankle was defiantly swollen and red, he could not find any indication that it was broken. ' _Just sprained then_ ,' he thought with relief.

While the hanyou's attention was on his ankle, Sesshoumaru covertly stole little looks at the boy. It was the first time that they were ever together in somewhat compatible silence. Then again, it helped that they were trying to ignore each other and not flinging insults at every turn.

For some reason Inuyasha was just... _interesting_ as a human. ' _Worse comes to worse, I could always use this forced circumstances to study for any weakness in my enemy… aside from the current obvious_ ,' Sesshoumaru rationalized.

Inuyasha finally looked up and was able to catch Sesshoumaru quickly turning his own gaze back to the entrance. He tensed but soon realized that if Sesshoumaru had not killed him yet, he was unlikely to do so while he was awake.

' _What the hell is his problem anyway_?' Inuyasha wondered as he continued to gaze at the large creature before him. ' _It's not like I pose any kind of a threat as a human anyway._ ' He sighed as he pushed some of his now black hair back behind his shoulder and winced as some of the strands dragged over a deep cut in his cheek.

' _Must have happened when I hit that tree,_ ' he concluded as he gently probed the injury. ' _A twisted ankle, a few scratches and a missing tooth or two_ ,' he thought as he ran his tongue over his teeth,' _just the one. I suppose it could have been a lot worse._ ' He once more glanced at Sesshoumaru. ' _A LOT worse._ '

"Um," Inuyasha started uncertainly as he stared at his demon brother. Sesshoumaru made a point to not look at him and Inuyasha huffed in infuriation. "Look, I know you want me dead but for reasons only you know I'm still alive. So…" Inuyasha twitched as he could actually _feel_ the heat rising to his cheeks and knew that while he could barely see his hand in front of his own eyes, his face was quite visible to the demon's gaze. "Thanks," he finally mumbled.

An ear twitching in his direction was the only indication that he had been heard. Inuyasha sighed and went back to examining his wounds. ' _Why should I think it would make any difference if I didn't thank him_?' he wondered in annoyance as he continued to examine his wounds.

Sesshoumaru wondered himself at the awkward show of appreciation from the normally selfish hanyou. ' _I honestly don't know why I saved your hide either._ ' He sighed as he listened to the consistent chattering of Inuyasha's teeth as now human almost curled into himself in an effort to get warm.

' _Stupid, stubborn…_ ' Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat and completely ignoring Inuyasha's instant reaction of tensing for battle, slowly managed to climb to his feet. ' _I did_ not _save your hide to freeze to death_!'

Ensuring that his movements were slow and non-threatening, he once more made his way towards Inuyasha.

It seemed the closer he got, the more tense the smaller boy became, if that was actually possible and before allowing his half brother a chance to move, he once more dropped down beside the boy and waited.

It wasn't long before Inuyasha tried to scramble to the other side of the cave but this time Sesshoumaru was ready for him. His giant paw shot out and managed to thwap Inuyasha back the way he had come.

Such surprise lit Inuyasha's face as he suddenly found himself flat on his ass and once more pressed against a warm furry side that Sesshoumaru suddenly felt the urge to chuckle. He quickly squashed it.

Inuyasha felt his breath catch in his throat when he felt himself falling backwards towards the demon and he waited for claws and fang to tear into him.

However, like the previous times, none was forthcoming. Inuyasha shifted awkwardly as he debated on what he should do.

On the one hand, his ankle pained enough that it wasn't really an option for him to leave.

On the other hand, he could be eaten in his sleep.

As he debated, the demon's tail once more moved to curl around him and Sesshoumaru showed just how non-threatening he thought Inuyasha to be as the human realized he could hear the demons breathing even out to the slow deep breaths of sleep.

' _Well,_ _that answers that,_ ' Inuyasha chuckled as he listened to the soft wines that soon emanated from the large Inu Youkai. ' _Who would have thought that Sesshoumaru, the great feared Inu Youkai Lord would dream about chasing rabbits in his sleep_?'

"Just another moonless night," Inuyasha sighed as he hunkered down in his now dry, if a little ripe, Fire Rat robe and settled in for a rather long, sleepless night.


	5. Dawning Dilemmas

' _I hate that rat,_ ' Inuyasha thought staring as the same rat once more poked his little pink nose out of his hole and slowly made his way around the two still figures before once more popping back in his hole.

' _He's fucking insane_!' the half dog demon concluded as the rat once more made his little circle around the two, occasionally stopping to sniff at Inuyasha's feet before moving onward to his home.

Inuyasha sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes. It had been a long night…

A _long_ night with Inuyasha tensing at every little thing that came from the form next to him. Even so much as twitch sent his pulse reaching and the wish that he could once more see in the dark.

But as a human, there was no helping it and he was forced to listen for every little sound that may give him a clue as to whether or not his companion was awake. The rat had really been the only form of distraction to the hanyou in the long, dark hours.

The one night when his stamina was almost completely depleted was the one night of the month when he had truly no choice but to stay awake.

If he wanted to live that was.

Usually he would find a cave like the one he and Sesshoumaru were currently in, or perhaps high in a tree covered by the thick branches and hunkered down for the night. For the past year it had always been in a small corner of Kaede's hut that he managed to keep himself out of harms way.

This night had really been the first night in a _long_ while that any demons had actually caught him unawares on his one weakest night of the month.

' _Or anything else for that matter,_ ' Inuyasha thought as he glanced back, the best he could, at the sleeping giant behind him.

Inuyasha wasn't stupid. He had at least an idea on why it was that Sesshoumaru had saved him. The full-fledged demon had said so upon their first meeting.

It would be Sesshoumaru who would kill him and the Inu Youkai would never allow anyone to take that kill away from him.

It was strange however, that Sesshoumaru was so utterly obsessed with the killing of his half brother.

' _One would think he would be glad he wouldn't have to_ " _dirty_ " _his hands by killing such an unworthy creature such as myself,_ ' he thought as he went over every detail of the night before in his mind.

It was so odd, that whenever he turned for the past year it seemed as if Sesshoumaru was right there behind him.

Briefly, he wondered if Sesshoumaru's recent and multiple appearance in the last year, after not seeing him in well over a hundred, had anything to do with Naraku and the scattering of the sacred jewel before dismissing the thought entirely.

While Sesshoumaru was certainly fixated on gaining power, he was also obsessed with the honor of the nobility and gaining his power himself and not obtaining it through some cheep short cut.

Sesshoumaru wanted to be the one to defeat the most powerful being on the entire planet. He did not have time to waste on humans and their ilk. Perhaps it was the very reason why Sesshoumaru had allowed him to live.

It was just as he wondered why it was that fate was constantly bringing them together at every turn that he was instantly brought to full awareness by something that didn't come from Sesshoumaru.

He could feel it.

It was happening.

Dawn was approaching.

It began with an irritating itch that focused on the shifting of the bones that grew or shrank within the demands of his yoki.

He could feel it, circulating in his blood. He felt seared by the very power that was running through his veins. This power was something that humans could only dream about.

It was almost a tingling feeling in his brain as his senses suddenly sharpened. His nose could suddenly detect that very annoying rat as it scurried back to his little hole in fear of the strange happenings.

His vision sharpened and he could see all the way across the cavern to see every minute detain in the wall opposite him. He could see every line, every crevice of the rock surface.

Cracking his knuckles, he glanced down to ensure that his brittle human fingernails had suddenly lengthened to the razor sharp claws of an inu.

Grinning, he couldn't help run his tongue across the bottom of his teeth stopping at the delicate point of his elongated fangs.

Ensuring that his hair had drained of the dark color of human to the glowing white of his demon blood would be the final touch in his morning routine, but even with his now enhanced vision, the cave obviously faced west and it was still too dark to make out any colors.

It wasn't important.

All that mattered was that he was back!

And he had to leave quickly before Sesshoumaru woke!

' _There's no way that this idiot will allow me to leave without a battle now that I'm almost back to full strength,_ ' he realized as he slowly stood up.

Testing his weight on his injured ankle, he could tell that his demon youki was already at work and the searing pain had now lessoned. With a quick glance back at the sleeping demon, Inuyasha slowly made his way towards the exit.

Ensuring that his footsteps were nearly silent, Inuyasha inched his way towards the mouth of the cave glaring at the still scurrying rat for good measure. ' _Will I be glad to get out of here_ ,' he thought in relief as he finally reached the last few inches. ' _This had to have been the weirdest night in all my_ life! _Psychotic lesser demons, a helpful archenemy… a crazy fucked up rat_.'

Inuyasha suppressed a chuckle as he finally stepped out of the encroaching darkness into the welcoming dawn of a new day.

' _Yep, all in all one of the top ten weirdest nights in my totally messed up life, and one I will be glad to completely put behind me_!'

It was then that a hand firmly grasped his arm and he was spun around to meet enraged filled golden eyes.

"Where do you think you are going hanyou?" Sesshoumaru growled as he glared at his hated half brother.

It had been so annoying that after all he went through, after saving the half demons scrawny hide, searching for hours (forty minuets tops) for some form of shelter for the two of them to get out of the rain that the bastard was just going to leave as soon as the little demon blood he possessed returned.

It was damn right aggravating.

' _The least he could do is say_ " _Ja ne_ " _the ingrate_ ,' Sesshoumaru reflected in aggravation.

While he had slightly dozed, for the most part Sesshoumaru had been awake right along side Inuyasha, only as a human, the hanyou couldn't tell of his cave mate's level of awareness.

It was a long night.

One, Inuyasha was constantly shifting and moving and twitching as he tried to find a somewhat comfortable position on that damnable cave floor. The half human had also made a wide array of sounds within the dark silence of the cave. Inuyasha could never keep his mouth shut for even a span of three minuets as he sighed and groaned and huffed and muttered to himself about nothing in particular.

And then there was that fucking rat! Sesshoumaru did not even want to _think_ about the stupid rat.

It had happened just as he thought he would go insane and possibly eat the stinking rat when he felt Inuyasha tense beside him.

It had taken a while for Sesshoumaru to fully comprehend what it was that was happening.

It had been the scent that finally tipped him off. That scent that was burned into his very nose that told him that Inuyasha was back.

He waited, wondering what the hanyou would do now that he was back to his normal aggravating self. He had already tensed himself in preparation for an attack as it was just the sort of situation that Inuyasha would take advantage of.

So when the younger of the two simply got up and proceeded to leave the cave it was truly a blow to Sesshoumaru's ego. Completely in a rage he did not even take note of his own transformation from Full Inu Youkai to the slightly dampened shape of his humanoid form.

"Do you think that you could simply walk away?" he continued as he glared at the defiance that crossed the child like face of the half demon.

Inuyasha yanked his arm away from his brother and with a nimble leap backwards landed a good ten feet away from the growling Inu Youkai. Sesshoumaru felt a flash of relief at see that the boy was back to his stoic self instead of the fumbling, and disorganized movements of the night before.

"All right you arrogant jerk!" Inuyasha shouted. "You want to get into it right here, that's fine with me!" He followed that announcement by immediately crouching down into a fighting stance. "Lets fight!"

Sesshoumaru stared in disbelief, stepping back and taking the full impact of Inuyasha's stance, he automatically noted the weaknesses before turning his gaze on the still growling boy.

"Are you insane?" he asked with every indication that he was completely serious.

"Wha-?" Inuyasha gawked, his stance wavering slightly.

"I asked if you are insane," Sesshoumaru repeated slowly as if Inuyasha were some sort of simpleton though they both knew he was not and they both knew it would irritate the hanyou even more.

"It is clear that your ankle, which will certainly heal quicker in your current for, is still not there yet. If you honestly think, that after a night of absolute no sleep," and here Inuyasha twitched, "that if you think you are any sort of challenge for me at the moment then you clearly must be insane."

Inuyasha held his stance slightly before relaxing his guard. "Well then…" he mumbled as he eyed Sesshoumaru in confusion. "Ja ne," he said as he started to turn away.

"Moonless nights."

"What?" Inuyasha cried as he whirled back around at the sound of Sesshoumaru's soft announcement.

"That's when you are at you weakest and turn human, isn't it?" Sesshoumaru smirked. "During the darkest phase of the moon." He leaned back against the large boulders that marked the cave's entrance and made a show of examining his nails. "What a _fascinating_ discovery."

In truth, it had taken Sesshoumaru a good portion of the night to figure it out but he had finally concluded that perhaps it was some sort of biological happenstance that they inherited from their father that chose the moonless night in specific for both of them to be trapped in their other forms.

Inuyasha growled low in his throat, flexing his claws and baring his teeth as he spoke. "If you think that I am going to allow you to just tell anyone and everyone about this, than it's _you_ who is fucking insane!"

Sesshoumaru sneered at the small show of aggression and bared his own teeth. "You forget, I had ample opportunity last night to kill you at my digression," the smirk returned full force. "You owe me, hanyou!"

Inuyasha jerked at the commanding tone and softened his facial features, hoping he was giving off a look of indifference rather that submission.

"And what, exactly, do you want from me?" he grounded out.

Sesshoumaru scoffed at the question, "it simply occurred to me that you were a walking target last night and that anyone with so much as a miniscule ounce of power had the capability of killing you off."

Inuyasha saw red and took a long deep breath in order to try to calm himself down. "What, exactly, are you saying?"

Sesshoumaru sneered again, before leaning back against the cliff glancing around the woods as if there was any one who would dare eavesdrop on the conversation. The sun was just starting to fully rise over the bluff and it lit upon the silver of the figures hair.

Inuyasha was once again brought to that small feeling of awe of his brother that he had felt all those years ago when he first saw the elegant form, standing there in the eerie glow of the moonlight while he had been hunting for food.

The Youkai finally satisfied himself that there was no one who could possibly hear the conversation, or at least understand it as he watched the rat scurry away before finally turning back to the still fuming hanyou.

"I propose a truce."


	6. Arguing Acceptance

Silence.

They stared at each other as the rat, becoming bored with their inactiveness begin to nibble on a blade of grass.

The silence continued.

Inuyasha stared as the numbness that had come over him with Sesshoumaru's shocking proposal finally released him. "A what?" he finally asked in disbelief.

Sesshoumaru nearly screamed in frustration. ' _Of all the stupid, ignorant, stubborn streaks..._!' "A truce," he repeated. "I propose a partnership as to the fruitless fighting that we are mixed up in."

"I know what a 'truce' is Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha snarled in exasperation, "Why in the world should _we_ have one?"

"I will be the one to kill you."

"What?" Inuyasha jerked at the sudden echo of all those years ago

' _What the hell does he mean by that_?' he questioned to himself.

So wrapped up in trying to figure out the meaning behind his brother words, he almost missed what Sesshoumaru was saying.

"I will be the one to kill you, and if you actually get yourself killed before that time would not be acceptable." Sesshoumaru ignored the resuming growling. "I'm sure that you noticed that I was in my other form last night-"

"Yeah, the stench of wet dog _was_ kind of noticeable," Inuyasha laced the comment with as much sarcasm as he could. ' _Why in the hells does he think telling me_ that _is going to persuade me to join in his little_ " _accord_ "?' He wondered.

Sesshoumaru completely ignored the insult and continued on. "When there is no moon, for the last few centuries I transform into my Inu form without any reason." The completely blank look he received told him that Inuyasha completely could not comprehend how significant that was.

' _Then again, since he's been forced to shift forms for his entire life could be that he truly doess not understand the meaning._ '

"It has never been heard of for a demon to be unable to control his transformation. None of any of the great healers can find a reason for my situation."

Again, the completely blank stare.

Sesshoumaru nearly started tearing out his hair in sheer nerves.

"Look. It's obvious. During the phase of the new moon, you are forced into you weaker human form. Meanwhile, I am forced into my stronger Youkai form. Therefore, I propose that every night of the new moon, we will meet and I will ensure that you do not get your fool self killed."

Inuyasha growled. "Like I need your stupid protection!" he shouted. "I've been dealing just fine on my own!"

"Yes, I clearly saw that," Sesshoumaru drawled his gaze going over the smeared blood that made a dark crimson streak across the hanyou's cheek.

Inuyasha flushed in embarrassment but stubbornly continued on. "What the hell do you know about _surviving_?" he sneered. How dare Sesshoumaru treat him as if he were still a pup! He had been surviving more than the Inu Youkai could even _dream_ about. He had been on his own at the age of twelve and the very _reason_ that he was forced into a situation of simply surviving was standing two feet in front of him.

"You, living your little pampered life in the palace!" he shouted. "You never had to wipe your own ass you always had your sniveling servants do it for you!"

The revenge was swift as the nails that Sesshoumaru had been examining so carefully suddenly were lashed out to catch the blood stained and four slim cuts suddenly joined the one that had just nearly closed.

Inuyasha jerked back, his fist automatically swinging outward in retaliation only to meet air as Sesshoumaru nimbly dodged the blow.

Inuyasha casually wiped away the blood flowing from his check allowing a smirk to come over his features. "Strike a nerve did I?" he asked in the same drawled voice his brother had used just moments ago.

Sesshoumaru glowered. ' _I must be insane_ ,' he concluded as he flexed his fist in frustration and settled for resuming his glare. ' _To actually think, that this simpleton would actually believe that I am doing this all for his sake_! _What an idiot._ '

"Do not think that I am offering this proposal in anyway to benefit _you_ ," he snarled. "This is simply a way to ensure that you do not mar our Inu Heritage."

Blank look again.

This time, Sesshoumaru found himself actually reaching up and tugging a lock of his hair in aggravation.

"It is a weakness!" he nearly shouted. "Your inability to protect yourself will reflect back on me. People will start to think that I am just as weak as you are."

"Weak- I am not _Weak_!" Inuyasha roared.

"I beg to differ with that. I have had proof enough of your weakness in any form that you carry." Sesshoumaru said calmly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Inuyasha said in a huff not looking at Sesshoumaru a cherry red blush spread across his cheek.

"I have a feeling foolish little brother that you do. Even though you do not use a single speck of brain that you where born with. It's not about physical power," Sesshoumaru told him. "Of course brute strength is all you know. You must eventually learn to use the brain our father has gifted you with despite your human mothers taint."

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha snapped back. "Why the hell am I standing around here listening to this? I have survived for years with out you 'protection'! Hell, you were the one who threw me out of the Western Lands in the first place! Couldn't even tell me yourself in person, had to send a fucking note! What the hell are _you_ thinking that I would accept any form of help from you now?"

"Because you know that you are defenseless during the new moon and you _know_ that you can not refuse my offer," Sesshoumaru announced.

And Inuyasha knew he was right.

And that pissed the hanyou off to no end.

There really was no flaw in Sesshoumaru's idea. Inuyasha never had any guarantee that he was safe during the new moon, and now with Naraku practically breathing down his neck…

' _I'm going to get killed if I don't accept his proposal… I'm going to get killed if I do accept his proposal …or am I going to go completely insane and kill myself… and the rat._ ' Inuyasha reflected. ' _This is a classic case of the_ " _damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario._ '

The hanyou's shoulders slumped somewhat in defeat, as he knew that any other option would never present itself to him. He could either continue on as he had always done, by hiding and sneaking about; or he could accept Sesshoumaru's truce.

He was beginning to feel actually physically sick at the notion but the older demon had a point. The only one who actually could fend off any other demons and Naraku's minions was the Inu Youkai Lord.

' _Fuck_! _This is exactly why I never wanted anyone to find out about my human phase,_ ' he thought in aggravation. ' _Okay, maybe not the_ exact _reason but this is a situation of someone managing to back me into a corner_.'

He growled as he stared at the tense figure before him.

' _There has got to be a flaw in this somewhere_! _There's no way that he's doing this just to protect our family name.'_

"How can I be sure that you won't take this opportunity and kill me?" he slowly asked as if fearing what the answer knowing that it would not be something he would like.

Sesshoumaru practically deflated at Inuyasha's hesitant question. "As I said, it would be a truce. I have no intention of killing you when you have no form of defense."

"Yeah right," Inuyasha muttered under his breath. ' _I'll believe that as soon as I see that Naraku is dancing by in a tutu and goes on a campaign of peace and love between all living creatures._ '

Inuyasha nearly laughed at the mental image and managed to calm himself before turning to his half brother. "I'll admit," he started slowly, "that the idea has some merit." Sesshoumaru nearly preened. "However," Inuyasha continued, "I disagree with the whole 'you come to me' thing."

Sesshoumaru's 'better than you' attitude returned as he glared at the shorter hanyou. "As if I could show up in the middle of those bakas you call a pack without being attacked on sight," he sneered.

"Er, right," Inuyasha could just picture how _that_ would blow over.

Miroku waving his staff around, while attempting to grab Sango butt. Sango tossing her bone boomerang at Sesshoumaru's head while decking Miroku for his wandering hands. Kagome demanding to know at the top of her lung what it was that he had come for. Shippo hiding behind Kagome's ankle peeking around to watch Sesshoumaru's every move. ' _Yeah, not good_.'

"Some sort of neutral ground?" he proposed hesitantly. "Like this cave perhaps?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the halfway decent suggestion and wondered vaguely if he would even be able to find his way back to the cave once he left.

"Very well," he agreed. "So we have an accord?"

Inuyasha sighed and simply nodded. "Do not think that if I so much as suspect that you will go back on your word that I won't hesitate to leave," he added as an afterthought.

"Fuck you," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Like I would break my honor over a weak, pathetic hanyou."

Inuyasha scowled, but said nothing. ' _Now is not the time for stupid bickering_ ,' he reminded himself. "So, we will meet back here on the day of the new moon?" he asked instead.

Sesshoumaru made a vague noise of agreement. "However, you are not to tell anyone about this arrangement!" he suddenly shouted.

"Keh, like anyone would actually _believe_ me if I told 'em."

Sesshoumaru scowled. "I am dead serious," he threatened. "You are to tell _no one_ of this situation. I do not want to suddenly find myself facing impudent humans and one inconsequential speck of a kitsune!"

"Like I want anyone to know about this either!" he shouted. "Do not bring anyone here yourself! That toad's stupid head staff is fucking irritating."

Sesshoumaru mentally agreed with the statement before nodding. "No one will know of this," he reassured.

"Right," Inuyasha sighed, wracking his brain for anything else that could be said. "Ja."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Until next month."

"Matta ne."

Neither of them moved, not wanting to give their backs to their hated enemy.

"Aren't ya leaving?" Inuyasha asked.

"Don't you have your blasted 'friends' to return to?" Sesshoumaru sneered.

They continued to stare at each other.

Inuyasha humped in annoyance as his hands came up to rest on his hips in frustration.

"Wait…" Inuyasha gasped as he finally registered that there was something that he was missing. Something that was very, **very** important. "Where's Tetsusaiga?"

"…"

"…"

"…Um."


	7. The Return of the Rat… and Inuyasha

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

The birds were singing; the sun was shining down brightly. A lone Hanyou grumped to himself as he walked through the forest. ' _Damn birds, Damn Sun and Damn Sesshoumaru that rat._ '

One month… it had been one month almost to the day since the baffling incident with his brother and the somewhat agreement of a ceasefire between them.

Inuyasha couldn't _believe_ that here he was, actually making his way to the blasted cave with the insane rat in order to keep his word to his blasted brother! ' _After everything that happened last time, I should only go long enough to chop of his smirking_ _ **head**_! _Of all the stupidity, how in the hells could he have forgotten Tetsusaiga_?' He snarled at the memory as his had grasped the hilt more firmly.

In the response to his question of the swords whereabouts, all that Sesshoumaru had been able to respond with had been the ridiculous "um".

' _And here I thought that this sword was the one thing that Sesshoumaru actually desired,_ ' Inuyasha mused as he continued throughout the forest, casting his memory back to the trek through the very forest he was in to search for the missing article.

And the fact that Sesshoumaru had been absolutely no help _what so ever_ in re-locating the sword still t-ed him off.

"Will you stop following me?" Inuyasha had shouted more then once at the figure that meandered along behind him. It had been truly irritating that instead of going his own way, Sesshoumaru had followed along behind him, like an irritating bug that refused to go away and continually flew around his head.

How Inuyasha had wanted to squash the irritating "bug" at the time.

' _The least he could have done was point the way there seeing as I had been unconscious when we left,_ ' Inuyasha groused as emerged from the woods and turned towards the cave, ' _but no~o, instead he had to trail behind me, insulting me nearly the entire way!_ '

Calling him a stupid hanyou was one thing, but to call him an irresponsible combatant was quite another. ' _It wasn't as if it had been_ me _who forgot the thing. It was_ his _stupid lack of attentiveness that the sword had been forgotten_!'

When they finally did return to the little clearing, Inuyasha had searched for a good twenty minuets before finally unearthing the sword from the mud.

It had been a relief to finally have his sword back when he found it, though why it was so blasted important to him after decades of never needing it before was odd. But Inuyasha decided to blame his human sentimental feelings at have something that once belonged to his father and left it at that.

Not that he would ever admit it.

Inuyasha believed that it had been sheer luck that when Sesshoumaru had bashed the sword away that it had gone under a bush and that none of the following demons that wandered the forest had located it.

And now, here he was at the entrance of the stupid cave and absolutely no sign of Sesshoumaru.

"Of all the stupid, fucking irritations!" he shouted. "He's not even here!"

He glared around the small clearing and with a huff, dropped himself down to sit and wait. ' _There's not even a sign of the stupid rat,_ ' he thought briefly as he glanced into the entrance of the cave.

"Where the fuck is he?"

Inuyasha had absolutely no idea that at that very moment just a half mile away, the very subject that was missing was asking his very question.

"Where the fuck _am_ I?" Sesshoumaru growled as he trumped through the forest. Not one tree looked familiar. Hell, they all looked exactly alike and there wasn't one hint of the demons whereabouts.

' _Of all the stupid exasperating things, to get lost at every god damn turn_!' Sesshoumaru chastised himself. It had been absolutely amazing that he had been able to find his way back to Rin and Jaken. Hell it had been amazing he made it back at all!

Of course, following Inuyasha had helped. Though there were a few wrong turns as the hanyou tacked the scent of the decaying corpses and his own scent on the sword, as the previous night's rain had dampened the smells somewhat.

Not that Sesshoumaru was impressed by Inuyasha's tracking ability.

Not one bit…

' _Fuck_!' he snarled. Though, if he was complaining about his current lost situation or at himself he really couldn't say.

There was absolutely nothing that he admired about his half human brother, _Absolutely nothing_. He was, after all, a full-fledged demon and there was nothing that the less powerful hanyou possessed that he did not. ' _Well, aside from the Tetsusaiga_ ,' he admitted begrudgingly.

He suddenly came to a dead stop and just stared at the very familiar footprints in the soft dirt before him.

' _I HATE THIS_!' he nearly screamed the sentiment out loud but the training of a warrior that must never allow his enemy to know what he was thinking held him back…

… That was until he saw the rat.

The stupid, irritating _rat_ was just sitting there, not two feet away, methodically cleaning his whiskers and completely ignoring the Inu Youkai's presence.

Sesshoumaru practically gawked in utter disbelief. It was with out a doubt, the same fucking rat from the cave.

The same twitching pink nose; the same left ear that he noticed was missing a good chuck from some long ago fight, and the same ugly hairless tail that twitched sporadically.

"Oh, you are so dead," he growled as he started to draw his sword.

The rat, which wasn't as stupid as others would believe, promptly turned tail and ran for his life.

"Get back here you diseased ridden rodent!" Sesshoumaru screamed as he took off after the rat. "I have had fleas for two weeks because of you!"

The rat ran faster.

Meanwhile Inuyasha, oblivious to the rat's current situation of mortal peril, was still sitting in front of the cave waiting for any sign of Sesshoumaru.

He had been waiting for nearly an hour and began to seriously doubt his sanity at remaining any longer for someone who more than likely wouldn't even show up!

' _I can't believe that I'm sitting here waiting for that prick_!' he thought to himself as he climbed to his feet.

A quick glance at the horizon behind him told Inuyasha that he had better make a decision fast as the sun was already starting to sink behind the hills.

"Damn it!" he groused as he turned away from the cave in annoyance. "I wasted almost a whole day on that stupid jerk and now I have to find shelter _fast_!"

He thought about staying in the cave before he dismissed it entirely. It wouldn't do to stay somewhere that someone else knew about.

For all Inuyasha knew, Sesshoumaru _had_ told about his secret night and who knew what might just show up. Returning to the village was one idea since he and the others had "made up" after their argument. However, Inuyasha was still upset with Kagome's temperament and his back was starting to ache from all the "sitting's" she constantly put him through.

The fight about the food had merely been the start of all the fighting, even more than usual as the past month had been nothing but screaming, fighting, ignoring and downright hostile environment that had made Shippo actually crying on more than one occasion that everyone was being so resentful towards each other.

While the other two humans had silently chalked it up to a tiff in what they saw as a relationship between the hanyou and the reincarnated priestess they had taken it upon themselves to try and help move the process along.

However, any relationship advice from Miroku was so stupid, that even Inuyasha had to roll his eyes. Grabbing Kagome's butt did not seem like it would help any semblance of a truce.

And who _knew_ what Sango had said to Kagome from all the odd looks she was sending his way after their individual "talks".

On the whole, Inuyasha had actually been looking forward to a reprieve from his companion's presence and now it looked as if he had to go _back_!

"Fucking idiot!" he grumbled as he started making his way back to the forest.

Two koinu ears were suddenly perked as the muffled sound of shouting unexpectedly floated towards him.

He turned, his hand automatically rising to the hilt of Tetsusaiga when a figure emerged from the bushes, brandishing a sword of his own.

"Die you fucking _rat_!" the demon shouted as he swung his arm in a wild arc.

Inuyasha quickly unsheathed Tetsusaiga and with a resounding "clang" the two blades connected.

"Who are you calling a fucking rat you prick?" he screamed as he shoved the taller demon away from him.

Golden eyes actually widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha gawked as Sesshoumaru took in his surroundings. "We're back at the cave," he said in almost amazement.

" _No shit_!" Inuyasha screamed in annoyance. "What the hell were you doing swing Tokujin around like a freaking idiot?" he demanded.

Sesshoumaru blinked as if coming back to himself and turned back to the hanyou, leveling his sword at him.

"Step aside, Inuyasha," he commanded.

Blank look. "What the hell?"

Sesshoumaru scowled. "I said to stand aside. That… _thing_ …" and here Sesshoumaru jabbed his sword in the direction of Inuyasha's feet, "is too much of an irritant to allow it to live."

Inuyasha stared at his brother before slowly glancing downward at the small ball of fur that was currently quivering behind his heals. He recognized the ear.

He slowly looked back up at the furious Inu Youkai.

"It's the rat," he said slowly.

Sesshoumaru scowled even more.

"You do realize you are seriously speaking about killing a rat because he annoyed you."

Inuyasha could feel the laughter beginning to bubble upwards and bit his lower lip to try and suppress it.

_It wasn't working._

"I could easily kill another annoying thing instead," Sesshoumaru stated as a small giggle made its way past Inuyasha's lips.

The rat squeaked and Sesshoumaru jumped as if one of Kagome's arrows had shot him.

That was it for Inuyasha as he finally burst out laughing; holding his stomach as he nearly doubled over in merriment.

"Oh my god!" he laughed, "You were seriously going to kill a small, defenseless rat because it managed to get on you bad side!"

Sesshoumaru glared as he re-sheathed his sword. ' _He will never let this go,_ ' he realized as he watched Inuyasha actually falling down to the ground as his body shuddered with the strength of his laughing.

The rat had meanwhile wandered back into the cave, his tail held high as he left the two larger creatures behind him in search of something to gnaw on.


	8. Settling In

The cave was actually larger than Inuyasha remembered it.

In the dying light of the sun, he could clearly see that the ceiling went up a good twenty feet if not more, and that the whole room was a good fifty, easily able to house a large Youkai Inu in full form…

' _Keh, he actually did a good job finding this place,_ ' Inuyasha thought as he started to walk the circumference of the space, ' _damn him._ '

It was quite annoying when his brother showed his "superior intellect", as Sesshoumaru called it, and was able to get the upper hand in countless situations. Inuyasha liked to call it his "brainless luck".

' _I should just chalk it up to him being older…_ ' he thought. Then he thought again. ' _…Nah._ ' He finally decided as he glanced back at the silver form that was totally ignoring him. ' _The bastard,_ ' Inuyasha thought. ' _I can't believe that I'm actually here with that jerk,_ voluntarily!' he huffed again as he tried to remember why it was that he actually honored the blasted agreement.

It was rather odd to be able to have a somewhat normal conversation with his brother, especially after all the insults, fighting, and downright hatred they had against each other. He had thought long and hard on the days following after their encounter and for the life of him he could not figure out what angle that Sesshoumaru was playing.

He almost laughed again at the thought of Sesshoumaru hunting down a little grey furry rodent and skinning it to make what Kagome called a "Davy Crocket hat".

It was not something he ever pictured his brother doing. It seemed to him as if Sesshoumaru never, _ever_ , lost his decorum. Though, there was the time against Naraku but Inuyasha agreed that the spider demon would make _anyone_ lose any semblance of restraint.

' _Why would he_ insist _that we_ " _guard_ " _each other on the moonless nights though_?' the hanyou wondered as he glanced at the other youkai. He was _still_ ignoring Inuyasha, much to Inuyasha's irritation, and was instead setting out what seemed to be a pallet of some sort.

Inuyasha almost tripped over his own feet. ' _Damn! He's one up on me_ again!' he bemoaned as he realized that Sesshoumaru had actually thought ahead and brought provisions for the long night.

When he first saw his brother emerge from the woods he had questioned the small pack that Sesshoumaru had had, and now as he saw Sesshoumaru unpacking food he about kicked himself. He vaguely wondered if this was the first time that Sesshoumaru had gone though this little ritual or if it was something that the Inu Youkai always did.

' _Something else for him to poke fun of when he realized that I didn't bring anything,_ ' he groaned in irritation. ' _Not that I ever really needed supplies when running for my life._ '

His wits and the Tetsusaiga were all he really ever needed on these nights. He was almost always too tense with the fear that someone would find him and kill him in his weakened state to worry about sleep or food or any other form of daily survival.

Inuyasha sighed as he could feel the beginnings of a headache forming. His ears flattened in response and he forced himself to relax his jaw in order to try and relieve the pressure.

This too was a monthly occurrence. Every time when he shifted from half youkai to full ningen, it always started out as a slight headache before worsening to the painful tearing and reassembling of his body. ' _A very fair warning_ ,' he supposed when he thought about it. ' _Better than just shifting right in the middle of a battle._ '

' _Still fucking annoying though,_ ' he concluded and rubbed his temples.

As he walked a little form scurried behind him, occasionally nipping at his heals with excitement and bringing Inuyasha's attention away from the odd thoughts of his brother. "You are just one giant pain in the ass, aren't ya?" he asked the small rodent that traveled behind him.

"I _beg_ you pardon?" Sesshoumaru inquired in a near shout from where he still remained at the entrance.

"Talking to the rat!" Inuyasha called back cheerfully.

There was a soft growl at the mere mention of the animal and Inuyasha tried to suppress a grin. "Tried" being the _operative_ word.

"Just what did you do to him anyway?" he chuckled as he glanced back down at the furry creature.

At that moment, he could have sworn that the rat gave him a look of perfect innocence. "Squeak!"

He sniggered again. "That _bad_ , huh?"

"I heard that!"

Inuyasha this time allowed himself to laugh fully as he continued his explorations.

It was when he just reached the other side when he saw it. There was dark hole in the wall and when the hanyou glanced inside, he saw that it was actually a long dark corridor that seemed to stretch on forever.

"Hey! There's a passage over here! There might be another entrance on the other side!

It took a full five seconds before Inuyasha realized that there was no answer. Not even a snide comment thrown his way.

Puzzled, he turned to see what it was that Sesshoumaru found so interesting that it was not worth answering him.

When his fading golden eyes finally lay upon his brother, he could see that it was very interesting indeed.

Sesshoumaru, meanwhile, had been completely ignoring the wanderings of his little brother, preferring to watch as the last of the sun's rays fading beneath the horizon and refusing to admit that he was still in a tiff over the rat.

' _Fuck_.' It was a very coarse word, but in Sesshoumaru's experience, it summed up everything very nicely. ' _How could I allow my emotions to become so uncontrollable that I ended up degrading myself in front of the baka_?' he wondered as he stared at the slowly sinking sun. While he had grown quite use to his monthly changes, this would be the first time that there was any one else there to witness it.

He glanced at the wandering figure and scowled at the little fuzz ball that followed it.

' _Damn rat!_ '

Sighing, he finally removed the small pack he had thrown over his shoulder and began to unpack the few contents.

While he rarely needed such frivolous things such as a big, fluffy bed or any other luxuries when the ground worked just as well, it was a surprising realization that the hanyou may actually require some sort of supplies for the coming night.

Humans were weaker were they not? The time they had spent in the cave the last moth had shown Sesshoumaru as much with Inuyasha's reaction to the wet cold. And as such, it stood to reason that Inuyasha, as a weaker human, required more than just the hard dirt to sleep on.

' _Did hanyou's truly bruise easier in their weaker forms?_ ' were just one of the many thoughts the Inu Youkai had after discovering Inuyasha in his other appearance.

He had come to the decision that Inuyasha would never even think to bring anything for the night, so had taken it upon himself to bring along what he thought a human might need.

' _A blanket for one_ ,' he thought as he remembered the shivering form huddled in a tight ball one month earlier. There was also an extra robe, some medicinal herbs and even an extra pair of chopsticks. ' _I wonder if my feral brother even knows how to use those,_ ' he wondered absently as he went through the contents.

There was also at the bottom of the pack a small pack of food that Rin had given to him just before he left her and Jaken under the protection of An and Un.

Sesshoumaru actually had to smile at the remembrance of the little girl who barely stood as high as his knees so stubbornly insisting that he needed looking after.

She was a treasure.

' _It is her that I should be looking after,_ ' he thought as he unpacked the dried meat and other foods. He glanced at the slight figure that was still wandering the caves edge. ' _So why do I have this urge that_ **Inuyasha** _is the one that needs my protection more than anyone?_ '

He once more peeked at the hanyou. ' _For Inuyasha to still be alive at his age though shows great determination and a strong sense of will_.'

More than once, he wondered why it was that he had gone to the hanyou's rescue on that rainy night. The excuse that it was to keep the Inu Clan from disgrace had long ago worn out when he had realized that there really was no demon, powerful or not, that had not heard of his younger brothers exploits and concluded that the half yokai actually could take care of his own.

There was just this feeling. It was a little itch in the pit of his stomach that said the "chance" encounter with his brother the month precious had not been a mere "chance" at all! There was something greater at work. Some form of other power that was pulling he and his brother together.

The multiple encounters and the mutual hatred of their arch-nemesis Naraku was merely the tip of the iceberg to something far greater in the works. There was just something that nagged at Sesshoumaru on that long, long, _long_ journey back to his companions that told him an alliance with the hanyou was _imperative_. It was not so much his Youkai premonition as it was the animal instinct that was warning him that something big was going to happen.

And so, against his better judgment, he had bullied his brother into accepting his propels of the monthly meetings. There was no way that he could go on with the knowledge of Inuyasha's weaker state and not do something about it. It was not honorable.

Sesshoumaru had not expected to see Inuyasha waiting for him at the cave entrance earlier and had been fully prepared to raid the little human village to drag the hanyou by the scruff of his very neck.

' _This is insane,_ ' he huffed as he finished unpacking the small bag. ' _It's not as if I'm his blasted mother, so why in the hell am I so concerned whether or not he's taking care of himself_?'

"You are just one giant pain in the ass, aren't ya?"

' _Then again, it could just be that no one would bother killing such a stupid, annoying…_ '

"I **beg** your pardon?" Sesshoumaru nearly winced at the raised tone that escaped from his throat.

When Inuyasha responded, he couldn't help growling at the reminder of the small rat and frowned at the small bout of laughter and the squeak that accompanied it.

"I heard that!" he shouted and frowned even more at the soft laugh that answered him.

Somewhat miffed, he again turned to the small pallet he had formed when it suddenly happened. The sun had completely set.

His insides felt as if they were being torn apart and he doubled over in pain clenching his stomach.

He could feel the urge to kill anything that moved rising and hoped in the back of his mind that the rat would suddenly dart out in front of him.

What happened instead was the feeling of a hand coming to his shoulder as Inuyasha had moved to his side. Though what the hanyou thought he could do to help in this situation was slim to none.

He could already feel that his face was elongating and that fur had begun to sprout from his body as red begin to seep into his eyes. Bones cracked and groaned as the lengthened and Sesshoumaru had to drop his jaw to allow his teeth room to expand.

The process on the whole took less than a minuet and soon a full on Inu Youkai staggered to his feet in a daze.

Shaking out his newly grown fur, Sesshoumaru sat back on his haunches and looked down at the creature that sat at his feet looking up at him in awe.

Inuyasha had never known that a Youkai could wear an expression of surprise and now he knew that they could.

Ginning sheepishly, he reached up and tugged his still furry koinu ears. "My shift is more subtle and slow to take," he explained to the question in Sesshoumaru's eyes.

Even as the words left his mouth, Sesshoumaru could see the silver of the hanyou's hair gently overshadowed by the dark black that bleed downward and the koinu ears slowly sinking beneath the silken strands.

Inuyasha gasped as he felt his youkai power melting away and the dulling of his senses finally complete and he could no longer see, hear or smell as well as he had before.

With his very center of gravity off balanced, Inuyasha nearly fell over. Grabbing hold of Sesshoumaru's massive leg in order to steady himself.

With in moments, the change was complete and there they were.

A simple Ningen and an Inu Youkai.

…And one rat that was very happy that he, at least, remained a rat.


	9. Behind Door Number One

Inuyasha jumped back from the furry Youkai as if he had been burned and staggered back a few steps to fall on his ass.

And they sat there.

And they sat there and they sat there.

Just staring at one another for a long twenty minutes.

Inuyasha scowled. "Do you have to stare at me?" he demanded.

Sesshoumaru cocked his head and made a point of looking around the cave before coming back to stare at the now human.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "I'll admit that as exciting as this place is, there has got to be something _else_ for you to do. Why don't you go patrol the grounds or something?"

Sesshoumaru woofed in annoyance, '" _Or something_ " _he says, Like I would ever be able to find my way back._ '

Inuyasha shifted awkwardly. "Could you at least _pretend_ that you're not staring at me?" he asked.

The crimson eyes did not shift in the slightest.

' _Fucking terrific,_ ' Inuyasha grumped as he crossed his arms and looked away.

He saw the small sack that Sesshoumaru had brought and dragged the item to him. He turned to the large creature, "did ya bring anything to eat?" he asked opening the sack and peering in.

Sesshoumaru could have rolled his eyes, instead simply nodded his head to the best of his capabilities.

Which was completely lost on the hanyou who had already delved into the bag and yanking out the few items of food Rin had given Sesshoumaru.

It was amazing that he didn't smother himself to death with the way he had inhaled his meal. Within seconds, almost half the food supply had vanished down that hanyou's throat.

"I don't suppose you have any 'Instant Ramen' in here?" Inuyasha asked between mouthfuls.

Sesshoumaru stared. ' _Why am I not surprised by this display_?' he asked himself. ' _He's_ _ **rude, arrogant**_ _,_ ' he stared at the tangled black locks, ' _has_ _ **no**_ _ **sense of hygienic cleanliness**_ _. And what the fuck is_ " _Instant Ramen_ "?'

It was almost like watching a wild animal, gorging himself to death after a fresh kill. Almost as if he was afraid that some other, stronger predator would suddenly appear and steal his dinner.

The sight was a revelation to him on just how bad off Inuyasha had truly been in the wild. It was almost as if he had become a creature of the wild himself.

' _Speaking of wild animals…_ ' Sesshoumaru stared at the little pink nose that suddenly poked out of a small hole.

Tempted by the smell of food, the rat risked life and tail to emerge from his hidey-hole and slowly crept towards the munching hanyou.

Inuyasha stopped and glanced down at the small creature that looked to him with such longing. Such pitiful eyes were beseeching him to share a small morsel of fare.

Rolling his own darkened eyes, Inuyasha handed down a round chunk of bread. He smirked at the little paws that reached at grabbed the offering greedily. "What do rats normally eat in the wild?" Inuyasha asked as he looked back at Sesshoumaru.

A bale stare was his only answer.

"Er, right." Inuyasha ducked his head, retuning to his chunk of dried meat.

The cave fell silent, only the soft rapid chewing of the rat.

Sesshoumaru huffed to himself and watched as the last of the food was quickly devoured.

He was actually rather put out at the fact that Inuyasha had not even bothered to offer _him_ any food but gladly shared with the rat. ' _Well, I know where I stand,_ ' he thought. ' _I suppose that after years of trying to kill him I suppose I would be leery of me too._ '

After the rather filling supper, Inuyasha glanced at the pallet that Sesshoumaru had set up before the sun had set but couldn't bring himself to truly relax around his brother.

He squinted in the darkness and once more delved into the sack. "How about flint?" he asked. Answering his own question, he soon found some flint in the bottom of the bag and went about searching for something to create a fire.

He reached for the robe that was folded up only to freeze in mid-motion by the growl that emanated from the large form next to him.

"Er, I think I should get some firewood…" he started when Sesshoumaru rose and went to stand by the entrance.

Inuyasha bristled, "I think I can survive for five fucking minuets!"

Sesshoumaru didn't move.

Narrowing his eyes, Inuyasha got up and forced himself to walk calmly to the entrance and right pass the large creature that watched his every move.

Walking towards the woods he looked down and started to pick up some twigs and smaller branches that lined the edge. Gathering some small dried foliage, he started to move further into the forest when there was a sharp bark behind him.

Pausing, he glanced back at Sesshoumaru in question.

When no other sound was made he turned and again tried to go into the forest to gather larger pieces of wood.

Again there was the irritated bark.

"Oh come on!" Inuyasha shouted. "I can't even gather fire wood? I'm not _that_ fucking helpless! Even Shippo gathers firewood by himself!

' _Shippo_? _Oh, the kit_ ,' Sesshoumaru remembered, ' _however the kit is not my concern._ ' He barked again when Inuyasha tried a third time to go into the woods.

Inuyasha whirled around in annoyance. "You are a fucking pain in the ass, you know that?"

Sesshoumaru coked his head and tried to put on a bored expression but still continued to growl whenever he thought Inuyasha was getting close to the border.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and gathered more small twigs until he had a sufficient armload and whirling, marched back into the cave not even looking at his brother.

By the time Sesshoumaru had turned his large body around Inuyasha was already furiously striking at the flit. However he was so furious by Sesshoumaru's controlling rules that there was no time for the flint to spark.

' _Just like a pup throwing a tantrum,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought as he settled back down to stare at the now human.

Inuyasha ignored him completely and tried to take a deep, calming breath. He struck the flint again and this time was able to get it to light. It was a few more times before he was able to get the small bundle of kindling to catch fire.

He sighed in content as he immediately held out his hands to warm up. The fire could not heat the entire cave, however it did give some warmth to their little corner. Now that that was done, Inuyasha sat back and looked up to find he was staring right into crimson eyes.

' _He is creeping me out_!' Inuyasha could feel goose bumps rising as Sesshoumaru continued to stare. ' _He is_ really _creeping me out_!'

Inuyasha wracked his brain for something, _anything_ as a distraction. …But they were in a cave, and what was so exciting about a cave?

"Oh yeah!" He sat straight up suddenly as he finally remembered and turned to the youkai. "There's a passage."

Sesshoumaru was suddenly on his feet growling furiously. ' _A passage?_ ' he thought in disbelief. ' _ **A**_ _ **PASSAGE**_ **?** _ **And he's only telling me NOW**_?'

"HEY! It's not like I _meant_ to forget!" Inuyasha screamed indignantly as he jumped to his feet. "I was a little busy turning HUMAN! And you're lucky I remembered to tell you at all!"

Sesshoumaru snarled at him and begin to look for the tunnel.

"Keh," Inuyasha huffed as he picked up a piece of firewood like a makeshift torch and wandered back towards the direction of the small hole he had found earlier on the opposite side of where Sesshoumaru had been searching. "This way, genius," he called and he made his way down the small ally.

Sesshoumaru barked again in surprise and quickly darted in after the smirking hanyou.

' _Damn it_! _I should go first_! _What if there's demons or something,_ anything _at the other end?_ '

Sesshoumaru soon caught up and snapped at the back of the leading figure.

He was very pleased with himself when he saw that Inuyasha jump three feet into the air and whirled around.

He was not pleased that his fur caught on fire.

"Oh SHIT!" Inuyasha cried and quickly started hitting at the small area of Sesshoumaru's flaming hair.

With in seconds it had been put out and Sesshoumaru's once impeccable white pelt now had a rather large black spot right on the center of his chest.

Inuyasha had to bite his lip to keep from laughing and instead he wrinkled his nose at the smell. Even with the nose of a human, the smell was terrible.

' _ **Powers that be, strike me down now**_ _…_ ' Sesshoumaru groaned.

Inuyasha turned back and once more started heading though the tunnel. "Oh come on," he called over his shoulder. "It's not _that_ bad."

Sesshoumaru dejectedly looked back down at the small spot in on his chest before he continued on after him.

The tunnel was rather narrow, but like the main cave it had very high ceilings. Sesshoumaru only had to scrunch his shoulders slightly to fit. It was actually not very long before the tunnel gave way to a small antechamber, and there they found a dilemma.

There were two new tunnels.

"Well," Inuyasha muttered in confusion, "this is weird."

Sesshoumaru had to agree.

Taking a closer look at the tunnels, he could feel his fur nearly stand on end.

There was magic in the air. A strong youki, imbued with age but still powerful in it's own right was emanating from the very stone of the walls.

Of course being human, the whole menacing effect was completely lost on Inuyasha.

"We'll go right," he announced as he started to move in that direction when Sesshoumaru suddenly growled and shoved his large head passed the human and headed him back into the antechamber.

"What the fuck?" Inuyasha cried, as he was herded towards the left one. "Just because _I_ said we should go right, you absolutely insist we go left! MUST you always have to do the opposite of _everything_ I say?"

' _Yes._ '

Sesshoumaru continued to herd the hanyou towards the other tunnel. The fact that it was Inuyasha that insisted to go that way was one thing, but it was actually the fact that the tunnel to the right practically resonated a "Do Not Enter" vibe.

Inuyasha nearly sulked at the second show of pompous arrogance from Sesshoumaru, but continued onward down the new tunnel.

' _I can't believe that he actually insisted we take the opposite tunnel. Just who does he think he is?_ ' Inuyasha wondered as he held the torch up higher, trying to see further down the dark hallway.

They wandered down the tunnel, turning right, then left, then right again. It was almost as if they were going in circles.

"This is ridiculous!" Inuyasha cried as they turned again. "Does this thing _ever_ end?" He asked the large youkai behind him.

They went around yet _another_ bend in the passage and Sesshoumaru "woofed" in total agreement.

It was ten minuets later when they finally saw a light ahead of them. Sesshoumaru immediately tensed.

Dawn was still hours away.

He surged forward, pushing aside Inuyasha, who let out an offended squawk of protest, and surged ahead; narrowly avoiding a second hair cut courtesy of the torch.

Emerging out of the tunnel he came face to face with his number one enemy… after Naraku that was.

The Rat.

That small, infuriating, _rat_ was sitting in the middle of the main cavern; happily munching away at the elegant robe that he had brought along with the supplies.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Inuyasha cried as he to finally emerged from the passage and stepped back into the cave. They were actually only a few feet away from the first tunnel they had gone in a few feet past where Inuyasha had stopped his explorations. "We WERE going in circles!"

Sesshoumaru growled and bared his teeth in furry.

Inuyasha smirked at the angry Inu. "Care to try my way now?" he inquired sardonically.

Sesshoumaru turned back to snap in his direction.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow. "Is that a no?" he asked.

' _ **Fucking hanyou!**_ ' Sesshoumaru growled. ' _ **What do you know about youkai wards and the power that radiated from that passage**_ **?** _ **Can't even keep himself out of trouble for five minuets!**_ '

"I can so keep out of trouble!" Inuyasha shouted. "And what wards? This is a stupid cave! Who would bother to ward that?"

' _ **You couldn't feel Youkai Magic if it came up and bit you in the ass! No matter**_ **what** _ **form you're in!**_ ' Sesshoumaru countered.

"What the hell do _you_ know about _me_?" Inuyasha was in full ranting mode now. "My senses are perfectly functional, thank you very much!"

The stared at each other, Sesshoumaru growling in complete furry and Inuyasha's chest heaving at the exertion of the unusual shouting match. Nether of them dared looking away from the other as they both continued growling at each other, though Inuyasha was less menacing that usual without his fangs to back up the snarl.

The rat continued munching on his high fiber lunch as the two brothers struggled and forced themselves to cool their head.

Ensuring there was a short rein on his temper, Sesshoumaru finally took a step forward and looked deep into his brother's bronze human eyes.

' _ **Can you hear me**_?' he asked, never once believing that he would get a response.

Inuyasha huffed and flopped back down, shoving his hands into his large sleeves. "Well of _course_ I can hear you," he stated irritably. "And I'll have you know that I _do_ know about 'hygienic cleanliness' you pampered prick!"

And Sesshoumaru had his astonishing answer.


	10. Circling the Issues

' _ **What the fucking, god damn, hell is this**_?' Sesshoumaru scrambled back, staring at Inuyasha in utter disbelief.

Inuyasha stared back at him as if he were utterly insane.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked in all seriousness.

' _ **You**_! _ **What**_? _**Impossible**_! _**Human**_! _**Talking**_! _ **Gah**_!' Sesshoumaru's brain promptly closed for the night.

Inuyasha gave him a very odd sidelong look, "O~kay… Care to repeat that wonderful string of nonsense?" he asked.

' _ **Gah**_!' came again.

"Right…" Inuyasha turned to the rat. "Did you get any of that?"

The rat, which by now had managed to devour a whole sleeve and was working furiously on the body of the robe, simply let out a squeak and continued chewing.

"Right, neither did I."

' _ **You! Talking back! You can hear me**_?' Sesshoumaru asked again.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You already asked me this."

' _ **HOW CAN YOU HEAR ME**_ **?** _ **I'M NOT TALKING BUT**_ **THINKING** **!** _ **HOW CAN YOU HEAR MY THOUGHTS HANYOU**_ **?** ' Sesshoumaru raged.

Inuyasha shrugged it off. "How should I know?" he retorted. "I thought this was some sort of Youkai thing. Isn't this how you all communicate when in Youkai form?"

' _ **This**_ " _ **Youkai thing**_ " _ **as you call it, is not a**_ " _ **Youkai thing**_ " _**at all**_ **!** _**No demon, be it Inu, Ookami, Kitsune, Kumo, or any other can invade another's mind**_! _**Now tell me how you can hear me**_!' Sesshoumaru demanded.

Inuyasha glanced at the rat, "I think you missed a piece."

' _ **GOD DAMN IT**_!' Sesshoumaru snapped in irritation, ' _ **This is not some sort of JOKE**_!' he nearly screamed. ' _ **The only person I can think of who could**_ **remotely** _**be powerful enough to read the thoughts of another youkai was father and**_ **you** _ **are no where NEAR his level**_.'

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Unless your eyes went bad in the past five minuets, you would realize that I'M _HUMAN_ you nit wit!"

Sesshoumaru was taken aback for a moment.

"And what makes you think that it's me listening instead of you talking, hm?" Inuyasha continued.

' _ **Because when ever something just remotely odd happens around here, it always seems to come right back to you**_ ,' Sesshoumaru grumbled.

Inuyasha glared. "Right then."

Completely annoyed, Inuyasha decided that the last thing he needed was to sit there and be insulted by his condescending brother.

Clambering to his feet, he turned his back on the Youkai and marched back to the tunnel entrance's and picking up his abandoned torch stormed back into the main door without a backwards glance.

' _Fuck_!'

Sesshoumaru tromped after his younger brother. ' _ **Where the hell do you think you're going**_?' he questioned.

Inuyasha huffed and marched onward.

' _ **I told you that the other passage is warded**_! _ **You can't go through there**_! _ **There's no doubt traps and other nasty surprises in there**_!'

Inuyasha continued on; soon reaching the antechamber and plowed straight through the right hand passageway.

Sesshoumaru came to a halt at the entrance. ' _ **Don't come crying to me when you get killed**_!' he sent after the fleeting figure.

Nothing answered him.

' _Fuck._ '

Sesshoumaru waited, watching the golden glow that filtered around the corner where the hanyou disappeared.

He shifted awkwardly as he listened for any distress from the hanyou.

Every time he stepped within a foot of the entrance, power danced through the air and Sesshoumaru's instincts just screamed "Back Away"!

It was only a few moments when Inuyasha returned, a rather puzzled look on his face.

"It was empty," he announced.

Sesshoumaru gaped as Inuyasha walked past him back to the main chamber. Whirling around again, he jogged slightly to catch up.

' _ **What was empty**_?' he asked.

Inuyasha shrugged. "It just led to a smaller cave further back," he explained. "There really wasn't anything back there to freak out about."

Sesshoumaru mulled over the information as they returned to the main cave. ' _Who would bother warding an empty cave_?' he thought and looked at Inuyasha expectantly. ' _ **Well**_?'

Inuyasha glanced up from removing the tattered remains of the robe from the very fat rat. "Well what?" he asked.

' _ **Didn't you hear me**_?' Sesshoumaru asked.

"Hear what?" Inuyasha asked back, getting rather annoyed.

The Inu Youkai now hand a lot wonder about as he went to what he deemed "his" corner and plopped himself down, gracefully of course, to think.

Inuyasha waited patently for Sesshoumaru to continue before the full inch and a half of his patience wore out and he went back to search for anything else to eat.

' _I wonder who warded that cave,_ ' the Inu questioned as he watched the small human dig though his bag once again. ' _Hell, I wonder how_ old _those wards actually are_!'

While the wards were defiantly old, the fact that they still had that much strength to actually stop the son of the All Powerful Inu Taisho dead in his tracks meant that who ever built them had to have been powerful indeed.

He glanced back at Inuyasha. The human had since abandoned the bag, having consumed anything and everything edible and hand now moved on to the pallet, rearrange and fluffing the blankets.

' _Can you hear me now_?' he thought experimentally.

No reaction.

' _Can you hear me now_?'

Inuyasha dug out a pillow.

' _ **Can you hear me now?**_ '

"GOD DAMN IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Inuyasha screamed.

Sesshoumaru sent a mental shrug. ' _ **Nothing**_.'

Inuyasha nearly stabbed his brother with a chopstick.

' _Of all the fucking, pain in the ass…_ ' Inuyasha growled as he climbed beneath the rather fluffy blanket and tried to find a comfortable spot.

It had been the most bizarre night that even went beyond the wackiness of the month before and Inuyasha was nearly at the end of his rope.

While exploring the tunnels had been fun, and he had to admit some sort of satisfaction at managing to set Sesshoumaru on fire, the fact that Sesshoumaru was hounding him with questions and ordering him about nearly drove him insane.

It didn't help that he could hear the odd snatches of his brother's thoughts every once in a while either.

' _I do too know about_ " _hygiene_ ",' he huffed annoyed as he yanked the cover up to his chin to ward out any cold. The fire had long since fizzled out to a small smolder but Inuyasha was to tired to go out and find anything more to burn.

He wondered vaguely if Sesshoumaru would finally allow him to burn the now rat chewed robe but decided that moving would be too much effort at the moment.

' _Why does he think this whole_ " _reading thoughts_ " _is my fault_?' he wondered as he ran the conversations though his head.

While Sesshoumaru was right that a lot of strange things happened to him, it was highly doubtful that he, who barely possessed a handful of youkai power in comparison to his brother, was responsible for the latest turn of events.

His strength and power was built though decades of vigorous training and sheer determination. There was _nothing_ that had just been _handed_ to him.

Chancing to peek out of his makeshift burrow and dared glance at the large Youkai across the dying fire, he smirked at the large patch of singed fur.

' _He does have a point though, the bastard_ ,' he thought as he pondered over Sesshoumaru's announcement about the small chamber.

' _Why would someone ward a cave_? _It's not like there's a lot of Youkai activity around here. Especially since Kikyou had the Sacred Jewel_. _Only since the Jewel's shattered have there really been youkai's wandering into the area._ '

It had been strange when he went into the smaller cave. The whole thing was smooth. Not smooth as if by age and time, but rather smoothed as if someone had deliberately erased all the rough rocks and worn the walls down.

The floor was completely flat and even and there were actually little shelves carved directly into the walls.

It was almost… "Homey".

' _Right, you're completely losing it…_ ' he chastised himself as he rolled over to try and find a better position.

His mind was too worked up to allow him to sleep, but his body was so fatigued that it demanded he do just that.

He tried counting sheep.

' _What I don't get_ ,' his thoughts continued between bleating ewes, ' _is why this snooty jerk is suddenly so obsessed with me. Yeah, he was obsessed with me before over Tetsusaiga but why this paranoia over the fact that I can hear him_?'

Inuyasha wondered over the significance as he counted sheep seventeen through thirty-four.

' _It's not as if he's thinking quietly,_ ' he continued. ' _Hell, I think they heard him all the way back at the Palace of the West._ '

He rolled over again and curled into a small ball, scolding himself for even so much as thinking about Sesshoumaru's odd worrying.

' _Oh God, I so don't want to go back tomorrow,_ ' he groaned and he buried his face in his pillow.

He knew that going home meant facing an enraged Kagome. An enraged Kagome meant a painful "sit". A painful "sit" meant a throbbing back. A throbbing back…

Inuyasha groaned just picturing the day he had ahead of him.

Kagome was still on the warpath from the last moonless night he had disappeared and his refusal to divulge his whereabouts that night. The week she spent back in her own world hadn't even helped with her attitude.

If anything, it had only gotten somewhat worse upon her return!

Inuyasha had over heard Sango and Miroku wondering if Kagome had finally come to regret her duty to return to the past and deal with the Sacred Jewel shards. He scoffed at the notion at the time. It had been her fault that the thing was broken into a thousand pieces in the first place!

Baring the so-called "Relationship Advice" from Miroku, no one had actually come out and ask what was going on between himself and Kagome however. It was something Inuyasha wanted to know himself!

Even Kaede had noticed the rapid change in Kagome and had wondered if a vengeful spirit had possessed her.

Inuyasha didn't care what was going on with the wench, he just wanted one day without a face full of dirt. The rat braved death by abandoning his own hole to crawl over to the distressed human and curl into a little ball next to him, giving little squeaks every so often as if to comfort him.

A pitiful moan rose from the huddled form and Sesshoumaru was dragged out of his thoughts.

' _ **Nani**_?' he asked curiously.

Inuyasha rolled over again, presenting his back to the Youkai and reached sheep number one hundred and forty seven.

"Nothing."


	11. Time And Again

"I think this robe can be donated to the fire pit," Inuyasha announced one month later as he picked up what remained of the robe from the corner where the rat had dragged and clearly made a nest out of it.

Sesshoumaru frowned as he glanced at the ragged remains accented sharply by the setting sun. "That was pure silk," he lamented.

Inuyasha laughed at Sesshoumaru's expense, something the other did not appreciate, and dropped the robe onto the burned out circle on the cave floor.

The hanyou had added small stones to border the makeshift fireplace, something he had done in the long hours waiting for Sesshoumaru to make his belated appearance, and there was now a small stack of firewood to last the night.

He winced as he straightened, stretching his back and he moved towards "his" pallet. "What was with that lizard Youkai?" he asked, referring to the week previous. "That thing was down right ugly!"

Sesshoumaru shook his head at Inuyasha's remarks. "The Tokage Tribe is one of the oldest tribes in the East," he explained. "Though why a Tokage Youkai was straying so far from its territory is somewhat worrying."

Inuyasha shrugged as he sat down and immediately began eating. "Go with the flow," he said, coining Kagome's phrase from her time. "Blame the Jewel Shards."

Sesshoumaru glanced at him before agreeing with him and moved to get a fire started.

Inuyasha watched avidly. "How did you explain the burn?" He asked referring to the fire incident from before.

"Explain?" Sesshoumaru inquired.

He rolled his eyes. ' _Leave it to him to not even bring it up,_ ' he thought, instead stating for Sesshoumaru to "forget it" and shoveled another helping into his mouth.

Sesshoumaru shrugged and returned to arranging his supplies. "I inquired about who could have warded the back cave," he announced as the kindle sparked and Inuyasha bolted to his feet, the small bowel clattering to the floor.

"You mean you told someone about this cave?" he shouted.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "I did nothing of the sort." Inuyasha minutely relaxed but still remained poised for flight.

"I inquired about any powerful demons that may have resided in the area over two hundred years ago," the youkai continued, ignoring Inuyasha's tense stance. "There has not been a response as of yet, but I suppose going back though two hundred years of property tax archives will take quite a while."

Inuyasha fell back down, gathering his bowel and moving for another portion, the rat eagerly eating the remains of the first on the floor.

"Why are you so obsessed over that cave?" he asked as he took a fresh mouthful.

Sesshoumaru declined to answer as he snatched the bag away from Inuyasha's reach and dug out some food of his own. "Why are you so obsessed that no one find out that this is where you're hiding?" he asked a question of his own.

Inuyasha jerked back and stared down at his empty dish.

Sesshoumaru huffed and filled his own bowel. Balancing it upon his knee with practiced ease, he began eating at a more dignified pace.

Inuyasha rarely ever took notice of his brothers missing limb that he himself had removed nearly a year ago. Perhaps because Sesshoumaru had such an intense aura that sometime he forgot that his brother only had one arm at all.

The absence of the limb suddenly brought to the forefront with the mere act of trying to eat suddenly hit home with Inuyasha and he realized that it had to have been hard for Sesshoumaru to adjust his whole way of living to make up for the lack.

Inuyasha was compelled to see Sesshoumaru not as the commanding Inu _Lord_ but as a mere person who had his own tribulations of life.

He hunched into his own dinner feeling the threads of shame begin to creep over him. While it had been a triumph at the time, the fact that Sesshoumaru would forever be burden with the loss completely shamed the hanyou.

To a warrior, their hands were their life. To suddenly have one stolen away would be a devastating blow too more than most. That Sesshoumaru not only continued as he had but to actually _thrive_ after the loss of his arm showed just how great his determination and strength truly were.

Inuyasha held out a small breadcrumb, watching disconnectedly as the rat took the offering.

Shame was actually a rare feeling for him to have.

While he felt sorry or sympathetic, he had never truly felt shame at himself. It was enlightening.

And down right disturbing!

"Any one who could be powerful enough to erect that barrier has to be one of the most powerful creatures ever to live."

The statement jolted Inuyasha out of his reminiscence and he looked back up at Sesshoumaru curiously.

"What do you have in mind?" Inuyasha asked eagerly. ' _Perhaps he is thinking of acquiring allies to fight Naraku, or more believable, learning how to gain that power…_ '

Sesshoumaru elegantly set his bowel aside and dabbed at his mouth.

"None of you business."

Inuyasha nearly fell over. "Man, do _you_ have trust issues…"

Sesshoumaru tilted his just as he had done in his Inu form and gave him a sidelong look.

The hanyou sighed and reached for a third helping only to have Sesshoumaru snatch the bag and hold it out of his reach.

Inuyasha stretched for the bag. "I'm hungry!" he complained.

"Then don't eat the entire supplies!" Sesshoumaru countered back. "You'll just be hungry later!"

"I'm hungry NOW!" Inuyasha declared.

"What are you? Three?"

Inuyasha jumped to his feet. "Am not!" he responded and again tried to reach for the sack. "Come on! Or else it'll spoil and I'll give it to the rat!"

"You do and you die!"

Inuyasha stood there glaring at the smirking Inu Youkai who swung the bag lazily over the hanyou's head.

"God damn it, give me the food mutt!" he shouted and lunged towards the other youkai.

Sesshoumaru simply stepped out of the way and glared. "' _Mutt_ '?" and the food was lifted a half a foot higher. "Care to say that again?" he challenged.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha cried and dropped his hands to his hips. "Now who's acting like he's three?"

Sesshoumaru smirked as he held the bag up loftily. "Not getting the food…"

Inuyasha lunged again and managed to tackle the larger form. Only by his sheer grace was Sesshoumaru able to keep his feet and he turned his body away trying to keep the sack from reaching hanyou.

Inuyasha nearly climbed the youkai like a tree as he leaned even further over, pressing his entire body against the hard contours of Sesshoumaru's armor; the fur of Sesshoumaru's stole tickling his cheek.

He looked up and froze as he came nose to nose with Sesshoumaru, his accursed Youkai brother. Gold stared into gold and the two froze, nether daring to so much as breath.

That's when it happened. He suddenly felt the change and the bag dropped from nerveless fingers.

Inuyasha, never one to miss an opportunity when it came to a quick meal, darted forward and grabbed the bag, heedless of his own change and quickly darted towards the back passage.

Sesshoumaru shook himself out of his daze and took off after the now fleeing human.

' _ **Come back here**_!' he roared as he skidded to a halt at the back cave entrance.

"NEVER!"

' _Of all the fucking stupid, self-indulgent, maddening, pains in the tail, THIS TOPS THEM ALL_!' he stared at the small tunnel in furry. What disturbed him however was that tense moment when they had been trapped in each other's gaze.

His heart actually thumped. It had never done that before.

He glared at the corner where Inuyasha had disappeared before turning back the way he had come. Inuyasha would come out when he had consumed everything to look for something else to eat. It was inevitable.

Sesshoumaru had actually insisted on packing extra food for just this situation after witnessing Inuyasha's previous dining habits.

Rin had giggled and declared she believed that Sesshoumaru had acquired himself a girl youkai.

Jaken had been horrified at the notion.

' _Women… bah,_ ' he huffed as he moved to his corner. ' _That is the_ last _thing I need. Always simpering and tittering and wheedling and…_ ' Sesshoumaru shuddered.

' _At least I was able to train most of that out of Rin before any of those dreaded female tendencies settled in._ '

Sesshoumaru considered himself far to busy to try and take a mate, female or otherwise.

There was the Tetsusaiga to appropriate; which, he absently noticed, was leaning against the cave wall forgotten in the imperative pursuit of food. Again, Sesshoumaru marveled at Inuyasha's continued existence.

Then there was the need to destroy Naraku and his deranged sisters. Now that was going to take some time.

One of the reasons he had inquired about the cave's previous occupants. If they could get any sort of clue as to whom it was that had actually lived here and if they were even still alive, then that would be an accomplishment worth noting.

If he could find who ever it was that had held such power and learn the secrets for himself, then he would be an adversary that no one dared to challenge.

"Anything else to eat?" Inuyasha asked as he made his way back into the main chamber.

' _And then there are those who just stubbornly refuse to get a clue…_ '

' _ **What do you think**_?' Sesshoumaru scowled at the dark haired figure.

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought you were just trying to horde all the food for yourself," he explained as he dropped the now empty bag on the floor.

' _ **Most of that Rin packed for my supposed**_ " _ **mate**_ ",' Sesshoumaru huffed.

Inuyasha gawked at the Youkai. "Mate?" he screeched. "You?"

He promptly fell over laughing.

Sesshoumaru huffed irritably. ' _ **I**_ ' _ **ve learned human girl children have rather romantic notions**_ ,' he tried to explain.

Inuyasha did not stop laughing. "Sesshoumaru… Girl… MATE!" he burst into another fit of laughter.

' _ **Must you always be this annoying**_?' Sesshoumaru asked.

"But you! You would _never_ take a mate!" Inuyasha guffawed. "Hell, what girl would have you?"

Sesshoumaru almost felt offended by the matter-of-fact way his brother stated his belief.

' _ **But I will have to take a mate eventually**_ ,' Sesshoumaru justified. ' _ **The blood line must continue**_.'

"Oh, God…" Inuyasha gasped. "Mental picture! Get it out, get it out!"

The Inu Youkai huffed angrily. ' _ **Like you and that Miko are no where near being bond-mates yourselves!**_ ' he retorted.

"DO NOT EVEN JOKE!"

Sesshoumaru reeled at the sheer venom that laced the demand.

The hanyou had sobered considerably and was not glaring back at the shocked creature. They stared at each other, Sesshoumaru in narrowed eyed suspicion and Inuyasha with a wild challenge in his eyes…

' _ **What spell does she have over you**_?' Sesshoumaru accused.

"Nothing!" He shouted shoving his hand in his sleeves again in that annoying habit of his. "She doesn't have a 'spell' on me… well not the way you think at any rate," he mumbled the last part but Sesshoumaru still heard him.

' _ **Why do you stay with them**_? _**Three humans and a scrawny kitsune kit**_ ; _**hardly your average pack**_.'

Inuyasha shrugged absently, "we all want the same thing. Naraku destroyed and the Sacred Jewel in once piece."

' _ **Then by you reasoning, I too have the same objectives**_ _._ ' Sesshoumaru countered. ' _ **Do you plan to incorporate myself into you atypical party**_?'

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "isn't that what you've done to me with this little accord we have going here?" he asked.

' _ **Hardly the same thing**_ ,' Sesshoumaru dismissed.

"Yeah, whatever."

They were silent for a while, both deep within their own thoughts. ' _ **How in the world did you end up with those four to begin with**_?' Sesshoumaru finally had to ask.

Inuyasha sighed. "I'm not quite sure myself," he admitted. "I think this actually all started those years ago when I was bound to the Great Tree…"

' _ **I can't believe you got trapped to a**_ **tree**!' Sesshoumaru jeered.

"What they fuck do you know anything about it?" Inuyasha snapped back angrily. Sesshoumaru gave the impression of a shrug and they returned to their silence.

' _ **Do you suppose my future mate will be someone of rational mind?**_ ' Sesshoumaru finally broke the silence to ask.

Inuyasha laughed at the question, the tension from his shoulders dissolving in an instant. "To deal with your temper, your insane notions, and your obsession with obtaining physical strength and power?" Inuyasha asked. He laughed hysterically.

"Your mate would have to be completely _nuts_!"


	12. "Nothing" Always Means Something

It was Sesshoumaru who was waiting for him at the cave the next month with now two sacks resting at his feet; one solely packed to the brim with food.

He had been sitting there for a good three hours having arrived relatively quickly since he left in the early dawn. It had only taken him four hours and only a few wrong turns. He was actually glad he had found it at all; last time it had taken him seven.

He glanced up at Inuyasha's arrival and narrowed his eyes menacingly. "Why are you limping?" he didn't even try to curb his words.

Inuyasha growled as he made his way through the last of the underbrush, a pack of his own now slung over his shoulder.

"None of your business!" he snapped as he dumped his own bag next to Sesshoumaru's and immediately turned back into the woods.

"Where are you going?" Sesshoumaru called after him, rising to his feet in order to follow the grumping hanyou.

"To get firewood!" Inuyasha responded over his shoulder. "That all right with you, Your Highness?" and he soon forged into the forest and disappeared behind a tree.

' _Well_!' Sesshoumaru bristled before sitting down again to wait for his second self appointed charge.

It wasn't long before the Hanyou returned, baring a huge stack of small logs that towered over his head. A stack that size would last a week and not just a single night.

Sesshoumaru wondered absently how he could see where he was going. Rising to his feet once more, he made his way over and appropriated some of the wood, balancing it on his right shoulder.

"Care to explained?" he asked evenly.

Inuyasha nearly deflated the same way Sesshoumaru had all those months prior on that rainy night and slowly made his way into the cave, dumping his load by the remains of the last fire before going back out for the bags.

"Been a bad month," he snarled as he sat down on the pallet they had left.

The rat soon darted out to greet the hanyou and Inuyasha actually reached out to pat the creature.

"Do you know how many _diseases_ those things carry," Sesshoumaru stated.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of the rats nose. "About the same as a mangy dog I imagine."

Sesshoumaru glanced sharply at him. "Care to say that louder?" he snarled.

"You heard me," Inuyasha challenged as the rat, sensing danger, returned to his own little hole.

"This conduct is completely out of line, even for _you_!" Sesshoumaru shouted. "Just because you had a bad few days does not give you the right to snarl at your betters!"

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, " _what_ betters? You're just older!"

"I," Sesshoumaru hissed, "am a High Regional Lord and your inherent ruler."

"The West has nothing to do with me!" Inuyasha retorted. "You saw to that, remember? When you kicked me _out of it_!"

"That's it!" Sesshoumaru shouted as he leapt to his feet. "This attitude is worse than your usual immature conduct."

He marched over to the hanyou and grabbed his chin in his hand, ignoring the wince. "And why the hell is one side of your face almost completely purple?"

Inuyasha reached up and tugged at the arm with very little effect.

"Nothing."

"You said the same thing last month." Sesshoumaru accused. "When I asked if the Miko had a spell on you."

"Why do you care?" Inuyasha asked continuing to struggle out of the Youkai's firm grip. "You want me _dead_! Why should you care if I'm in pain?"

"You're in pain?" Sesshoumaru repeated, immediately releasing the hanyou's jaw.

Inuyasha jerked away and stormed down the passageway in an echo of the month previous.

Sesshoumaru again trailed after him. "You have been acting strangely ever since that night I found you in the rain," Sesshoumaru continued as he followed along. Inuyasha remained stubbornly silent. "What has been going on?" the Youkai asked. "I noticed it the last time our two groups happen upon each other. There seems to be this undercurrent of hostility and uneasiness."

Inuyasha walked faster and turned sharply to enter the smaller chamber knowing it was the one place that Sesshoumaru's youki would not allow him entrance…

The problem was, Inuyasha could not pass the barrier either.

He had gone not two steps into the doorway when he was suddenly propelled backwards into the air, colliding with a warm, solid chest as Sesshoumaru caught him with his right arm to prevent the hanyou from further damaging himself.

"Wha- what was _that_?" Inuyasha sputtered as he stared at the blue crackles of power that sparked from the small passage.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the silver head pressed against his chest plate as Inuyasha's koinu ears perked forward and swiveled as he listened to the crackle of the wards. They were even fuzzier than Sesshoumaru imagined. "What I've been trying to get into your thick skull for two months!" he said slowly. "The blasted wards."

Inuyasha watched as another lightning streak spark across the floor.

"Why would anyone do that?"

Sesshoumaru dropped him.

"HEY!" Inuyasha cried as he felt himself falling backwards connecting with the stone floor hard.

"YOU BASTARD!" Inuyasha screamed after the retreating figure.

Sesshoumaru glanced down at the rat, "you want to say something?" he asked sarcastically.

The rat twittered and moved to Inuyasha's bag, methodically chewing on one of the straps.

Inuyasha eventually re-appeared, rubbing circles at the small of his back. "Did you have to drop me?" he asked accusingly.

"Yes," Sesshoumaru answered truthfully. "Yes I did, now come over here."

Inuyasha stopped and graced his elder brother with a scathing look. "You're kidding, right?"

Sesshoumaru held up a small medicinal jar. "It's actually muscle relaxant," he explained as Inuyasha slowly made his way towards him, "and I'm sorry to say it will not improve you face any…"

He smirked and handed over the small jar. "However it should help with the bruising."

Inuyasha bristled. "Very funny."

Sesshoumaru smirked, "yes, I thought so."

Inuyasha sighed as he dropped onto his makeshift pallet, absently pulled his sack away from the munching rat, and opened the jar to the pungent odder of moss and what could possibly be bird droppings.

"What the hell is _in_ this?" he started to ask before shaking his head. "Never mind, I don't want to know!" He took a small portion of the brown goo and lifted it up to sniff it tentatively. It did little with his rapidly declining nose as the sun slowly set but it was a force of habit. "Better question, where in the world did you get it?"

"Fathers Court Healer swears by it and I'm sorry to say that the putrid goo actually works."

Inuyasha paused in applying said 'putrid goo' and stared at Sesshoumaru in shock.

Sesshoumaru instantly tensed defensively. "What?"

"Say that again," Inuyasha instructed.

"Say what again?"

"Goo."

"What?"

"Say 'goo'," Inuyasha specified.

" _WHAT_?"

"Just say it!" Inuyasha pressed.

Sesshoumaru glared and said in an extremely deadpan tone, "goo."

Inuyasha grinned widely, satisfied and went back to applying his medication.

' _What the hell_?' Sesshoumaru wondered. "Was there a point to all this?" he asked.

"Oh nothing really," the hanyou admitted as he finished with the sloop and placed the leather cover over the jar. "It's just really amusing to hear you say the word 'goo'."

Sesshoumaru stared in surprise before accepting the offered container. "I take it you're feeling better now."

Inuyasha sighed as he lay back down on his pallet, crossing his arms behind his head and watched the small fire crack and pop. "You were right, there has been a lot of tension with the others lately. Miroku actually went to a temple voluntarily to meditate and there are absolutely _zero_ women there."

Sesshoumaru nodded sagely. "This is serious."

"Yeah, and it's been getting steadily worse these past few months."

The sun finally set and the two shifted forms but neither took any notice. ' _ **Has anything happened with Naraku recently**_?' Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha shook his head as he sat up and poked the rapidly hardening gunk on his chin. "How long does this have to stay on?" he asked.

' _ **All night**_ ,' Sesshoumaru replied.

"Keh, great…" he poked at it with a finger.

' _ **Leave it alone**_ ,' Sesshoumaru chastised. ' _ **Has it been everyone acting oddly or just a few**_?'

"Actually it been more like 'only' Kagome."

' _ **Ah, the Miko**_ ,' the youkai mused. ' _ **It seems as if this is all coming back to her**_.'

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "I thought that when anything weird happened it always came back to me."

Sesshoumaru woofed. ' _ **Contrary to your belief, the world does not revolve around you**_. _**Now then**_ ,' he continued, blatantly ignoring the humans sputtering. ' _ **Have there been any odd anomalies around her**_?'

Inuyasha shrugged, "just the usual demon fighting for the Jewel shards."

' _ **What about her previous carnation**_? _**The one that was resurrected from clay**_?'

"Kikyou?" Inuyasha shook his head. "Haven't seen her for at least two months now."

' _ **Hmm**_ ,' Sesshoumaru ran over the facts wondering if there was anything crucial he had missed.

Inuyasha stared at the Inu Youkai, watching as the long tail occasionally twitched back and forth.

' _We've actually been civil for four months…_ ' he told himself, 's _o why am I getting nervous lately with the though of seeing him_?'

It had started the month previous when he had been hiding in the back chamber eating the remains of the food.

It had almost been… fun with Sesshoumaru. Almost as if they were acting like actual brothers but there had been an undercurrent of something. Inuyasha had actually lost his breath. It had been a small incident in a string of oddities but still Inuyasha shuddered at the remembrance of staring into the golden eyes that were exactly like his own.

He sighed and rubbed his temples in an attempt to banish the pounding headache. Sitting up he poked at the now flaking gunk on his cheek the subjugation beads clacking with his movements.

' _ **Why do you wear that ugly necklace**_?' Sesshoumaru finally had to ask.

Inuyasha "keh'ed" again and looked down in disgust. "This ugly thing?" He asked lifting the beads up before him. "This is the humans way of forcing me to 'submit'," he explained. "Kagome only has to say 'sit' and I'm literally forced to the floor."

' _ **Then**_ **that's** _ **the spell that the Miko has on you**_!' Sesshoumaru finally comprehend. ' _ **And your bruise**_.'

Inuyasha released a bitter laugh. "Stupid, isn't it? They almost treat me as if I were an actual dog…"

Sesshoumaru looked at the dejected figure with a small trace of pity. ' _ **Why don't you just take them off**_?' he asked.

Inuyasha let out a halfhearted laugh. "You think I haven't tried?" he asked. "They're spelled so that a youkai can't remove them. I've tried every chance I get…" he explained as he took the beads firmly in hand and jerked them upwards to demonstrate.

And Sesshoumaru snorted in annoyance as the beads slipped right over his head. ' _ **You were saying**_?'

Inuyasha gawked at the strand that hung innocently from his hand.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!"


	13. Not Exactly Enemies

"Rin think that Sesshoumaru-Sama is sleepwalking," little Rin stated with all confidence from the back of the two-headed dragon a week after the new moon.

"Rin!" Jaken snapped. "You mustn't bother Lord Sesshoumaru. He is in deep meditation."

Sesshoumaru glanced at the foreign surroundings. ' _Now where the fuck are we?_ ' he wondered.

He studied the two paths in front of him before finally deciding to head right and knowing his sense of direction turned left, giving the reins a sharp tug for An and Un to follow.

"Ack! Wait for me, Sesshoumaru-Sama!" Jaken cried hurrying as fast as his legs could move.

Rin giggled as she glanced back at the little toad demon. "Hurry up Jaken-San!" she called cheerfully, "or we'll leave you behind!"

"Hmph! Lord Sesshoumaru would never leave me behind!" Jaken said with pride.

"Of course not!" Rin agreed. "Sesshoumaru-Sama is so kind!"

' _I wonder if rat stew would taste any good…_ '

"Lord Sesshoumaru is a gracious leader!" Jaken corrected. "Not kind, Rin."

She tilted her head to the side, a habit she had gained from her companions. "Isn't that the same thing?" she asked.

' _Of course, you'd have to figure out something for the broth…_ '

"They are _not_ the same thing, Rin."

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

' _Perhaps a side of curried rice…_ '

"I don't care what you say, Sesshoumaru-Sama is very kind to Rin!"

"He takes care of you little human, there is a difference from being kind and taking care of ones responsibilities."

' _Then again, I could use a new muff for winter…_ '

Rin sighed, the conversation loosing its appeal quickly as many things did to a child's fleeting attention span. "Sesshoumaru-Sama? May Rin get down?" Rin asked, holding her arms out so she could be lifted off the dragons back.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, the youkai swung the girl down to the forest floor and watched as she ran off to pick some late blooming wildflowers in the field before them.

"I must apologise Sesshoumaru-Sama," Jaken huffed as he came beside the other figure. "She still does not understand the appropriate edict for Youkai society."

"Could one rat skin be enough to make a muff?"

"Err… rats?" Jaken stammered in surprise.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama!" Rin called as she stood and started towards the others. "Rin made you a present!"

Sesshoumaru jerked, dropping An and Un's reins and surged forward scooping up the girl without even stopping and leaping to the other side of the clearing.

The delicate flower ring that Rin had made was soon trampled back into the earth as a frightened heard of wild deer suddenly stampeded into the small clearing, charging right through the area where the girl had been standing.

Rin coughed as a cloud of dust rose into the air waving her hand in front of her face as she watched the animals go. "What were they running from Sesshoumaru-Sama?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru stared back the way the animals had come, setting Rin down and pushing her behind him.

There was silence as the sound of the running heard gently faded into the distance…

Then-"Damn it! Who needs you?"

There was the sound of someone crashing through the underbrush and a small figure soon appeared in the deer's wake, stumbling into the small glen. "No one would want to eat you anyway!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow as he slowly looked over Inuyasha's disheveled appearance. "Immaculate appearance as always."

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha jumped in surprise and immediately positioned himself in a fighting stance. "What are you doing here? Its not…" he halted mid sentence, glancing at Sesshoumaru's companions.

"You have twigs in you hair Inuyasha-Sama," Rin called out but did not moved from her spot, watching the two expectantly.

Inuyasha scowled and tried to pull one free of his long strands, "thanks." Rin giggled as the twig took a few silver strands with it and Inuyasha threw it aside, working on another one.

"Rin, come over here!" Jaken motioned frantically, also keeping an eye on the two warily.

"What on earth were you doing?" Sesshoumaru ignored his companions and wrinkled his nose at the hanyou's appearance.

"None of your business!" Inuyasha snapped back.

Sesshoumaru reached out and plucked another twig.

"Careful!" Inuyasha barked as he rubbed the spot where the hair had been forcefully ripped out.

"You look as if that herd of deer ran over you," he commented as he dropped the twig in amusement.

Inuyasha actually blushed and muttered something as he struggled with his hair. Rin giggled as she reached out to brush a streak of dirt off Inuyasha's pants.

"Why were you chasing the deer anyway?"

"None of your business!" Inuyasha repeated.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "You always say that, so I'm making it my business." He studied Inuyasha's full appearance critically. "Why are you standing funny?"

Jaken watched from the edge of the clearing, darting looks between the elder and younger siblings and becoming increasingly bewildered. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

"Not now Jaken," Sesshoumaru called back.

"I'm not!" Inuyasha defended even as he shifted his stance.

"Yes you are." Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "Are you still limping?"

"No," said quickly.

' _A little_ too _quickly,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought. "Yes you are. Just what the hell is wrong with you?"

"There's _nothing_ wrong with me!" Inuyasha insisted.

"Besides your terrible lack of ability to lie?"

"That's it!" Inuyasha took up his stance once more, his hand moving to the hilt of Tetsusaiga. "If we're going to fight, lets go. I've go no time trade insults with you."

Sesshoumaru turned and led Rin back to An and Un and helped her re-mount. "What a surprise," he said. "Neither do I."

"Wha?" Inuyasha stared as the small group made their way past him, Sesshoumaru reaching out once more to snatch another twig.

"Don't get killed," the youkai hissed as he passed.

Jaken glanced back at the fuming hanyou as they made their way through the woods. "Sesshoumaru-Sama? Is it wise to leave him? It would be a perfect opportunity to claim the Tetsusaiga if he was injured as you say."

The two-headed staff was instantly snatched and brought down on the imp's head. "Never question me when it comes to that hanyou…" Sesshoumaru snarled.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-Sama," Jaken groaned and rubbed the rapidly forming bump.

Rin ignored the males and turned around herself to stare back at her lord's brother.

' _Is it my imagination or does he look lonely_?' she wondered as they disappeared around the bend.

The look of sadness and longing on the hanyou's face stayed with Rin for an entire week as they made their way through the woods. It was not unusual to see Inuyasha angry or smirking at Sesshoumaru, but that last look he had thrown their way as he quickly flashed into the trees and disappeared was something that she had never seen before.

Sesshoumaru was of another opinion. He had seethed for an entire week over Inuyasha's refusal about his obvious injuries.

On the other hand, the putrid goo had worked wonders and the bruise on his face had dulled considerably to a sickly yellow.

' _There is something strange going on in that little village,_ ' he thought as he took another random path in the hopes it would lead him to a somewhat familiar location.

It was amazing that it actually did.

The cave was suddenly there! The same cave where he had spent the past four moonless nights with his hanyou brother.

And the _Rat…_

"Sesshoumaru-sama? Isn't that your sash?" Rin asked innocently as she pointed at the very scene that Sesshoumaru was glaring at.

' _That rat has a death wish…_ ' Sesshoumaru concluded as he turned to Rin and Jaken. "Stay here," he commanded as he withdrew Tokujin and quickly ducked behind a tree.

"Um…" Jaken and Rin stared at the spot where Sesshoumaru was hiding. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

"SH!"

They shut up.

It was very slow going, creeping up on the rat. Sesshoumaru could feel his nerves tense at every step he took, watching that he did not step on any branches or fallen autumn leaves.

He had made it! He was with in striking distance of the little fur ball that tormented his life… and his wardrobe.

With a satisfied smirk, he raised his arm and brought the sword down with all his strength.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The swords clanged as another irritating rat suddenly appeared to the rescue of the first.

"Why are you so obsessed with killing Kuufuku?" Inuyasha asked annoyed as he re-sheathed Tetsusaiga.

"What are you doing here two weeks early?" Sesshoumaru asked a question of his own. "And who the hell is Kuufuku?"

A small squeak rose from the direction of Inuyasha's feet.

"YOU NAMED THE RAT?"

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah."

"What the fuck?"

"Um… Sesshoumaru-Sama? May we come out now?" Rin called out.

Inuyasha whirled to Sesshoumaru, "why did you bring them here?" he demanded.

Sesshoumaru scowled. "It wasn't exactly planned…"

"What do you mean it wasn't planned?"

"Hello Inuyasha-Sama!" Rin smiled as she walked up to the frenzied hanyou.

"Er, hi."

Sesshoumaru gazed at the small basket of vegetables and other forest foods that Inuyasha had set down.

"Why are you gathering food?" he asked.

Inuyasha gave him an arched look. "Because winter is coming. You remember winter, don't you? Snow, cold, the complete lack of food… "

"Yes, I do know what winter is… but why should you be gathering food? Do you not live in that horrible little human village?"

Inuyasha blanched.

The color just drained out of him leaving remains of the horrible yellow bruise in vivid detail as he gave Sesshoumaru a fearful stare.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and whirling around, marched into the cave. Inuyasha took a step forward as if to stop him but the white figure had already gone.

"Inuyasha-Sama," Rin called, capturing Inuyasha's attention. He looked down to see her offering a small, embroidered bag. "Sh… the nice ladies at the village sneaked this to Rin!" she explained as he opened it to release the fresh smell of sweet buns. "Will it help?" she asked.

Inuyasha smiled softly and handed the small offering back. "Thank you Rin, but you should save that for yourself." She pouted but took the bag back.

Stomping footsteps suddenly echoed and Inuyasha was grabbed by the collar and whirled around to face furious gold eyes.

"Inuyasha…" Sesshoumaru ground out between clenched teeth. "Are you actually _living_ in the cave?"


	14. Homemaking Hanyou

The morning after the new moon had been cast in shadows as overhanging clouds threatened to deliver a harsh November storm.

It was a terrible day to start a new life, however that was exactly what Inuyasha planned to do. He watched the retreating figure of his brother from the small cluster of bushes where he had hidden himself in the pretense of returning to the village.

Ensuring that he was completely alone he slowly started back to the cave…

-Only to quickly dive back into a prickly mulberry bush at the sudden sound of someone tromping through the woods.

Inuyasha frowned as he tried to puzzle out why Sesshoumaru would come back to the cave and judging from Sesshoumaru's aggravated look, he didn't know either.

The Youkai glanced into the cave briefly before his gaze swept over the ground as if looking for something that was small and possibly furry.

"Here ratty, ratty, ratty… Where are you, you little shit?"

Inuyasha ignored the taste of dirt as his jaw hit the ground. ' _What in the hell? He came back to kill the rat? What is he, mental?_ '

He watched as Sesshoumaru continue to search for a few moments before finally huffing in frustration, turned and left.

Remaining where he was, disregarding the prickly thorns before once more stepping out into the little clearing, shaking his head in the direction Sesshoumaru had gone.

' _What the fuck was that_? _I thought Sesshoumaru was above such menial tasks…_ '

Shrugging, Inuyasha once more entered the cave.

"It looks like it's just going to be you and me from now on," he smiled down at the rat that had immediately come out to greet him.

Dropping his sack down again, he stepped back from the center of the room and took in the large chamber with new eyes. ' _Mine,_ ' he thought with pride. ' _Okay, so it's not exactly a palace… hell, it's not even a_ shack, _but it's_ MINE!'

The fire pit would have to be moved, that was the first thing he had to do, and make something more substantial for a bed in place of the little pallet he had been using. He wondered if he should make some sort of den for Sesshoumaru but decided that it could wait until later.

Old leaves from past occupants would have to be raked out and perhaps some rushes brought in for warmth in the coming months. It would be a lot of work, but when Inuyasha was determined to do something, he made _sure_ that he got it done.

Still with a slightly maniac grin of triumph, Inuyasha sat down and dragged his bag towards him and began to unpack his few precious belongings. The rat, which was a little surprised at the hanyou's remaining presence, wandered over curiously and began to sniff the few meager contents.

"This is everything I own," Inuyasha explained. "It's nothing really special but they're mine and mine alone."

The rat disagreed by immediately gnawing on one of the scrolls.

"Do you mind?" he asked, taking the precious parchment away from the rodent and placed it with grate care on his other side, far away from the rat. "Do you ever stop eating?" he asked in amusement as the rat moved onto his already half eaten strap.

' _Oh god, I'm talking to a rat…_ ' Inuyasha realized as the rat almost pulled the bag down completely in his frenzied eating.

It was stupid, he knew but he was eager to tell someone – _anyone_ \- of his plans and the rat at least wouldn't call him a complete baka.

"You know, with your endless appetite, I think I'm going to call you Kuufuku. How does that sound?"

The newly named animal squeaked in approval and devoured half the fastening in a minuet and a half.

Inuyasha chuckled. "Glad you approve," he said as he searched for a good place for his things.

The total count of his possessions consisted of three shirts, two antique hair combs of his mothers that were missing most of the teeth, a small dagger, and four cups of instant ramen he had snitched before he left the village the day before.

The last but not the least of his collection was the six small scrolls, carefully wrapped in poorly, but lovingly made leather covers. Inuyasha had been completely relived that the scrolls had survived in their little hiding place for all those years he had been trapped to the great tree.

It was the _one_ secret that no one, not even Myouga knew about his love to read.

' _Hell, people take one look at me and automatically think I'm completely illiterate_!'

In truth, it had been the one thing his mother had never wavered from. There were many fond memories of him sitting upon his mothers lap under a blooming Sakura tree or in his mothers chamber, the eerie glow of a single candle dancing across the pages, just reading.

They had quickly depleted her small pile of novels and his mother struggled to get her hands on something, anything, for her to use in teaching her son the multitude of kanji and just about anything she hoped could help him through out his life.

Smiling, he moved the scrolls aside and set in to clean his new home. It was hard work, as he knew it would be, but Inuyasha was bound and determined that he would have at least one place that would feel like a home.

The only thing he ever had to go by was his mother's small chamber in his "uncle's" palace. Just stepping out of the small room was like stepping into hell and sometimes his mother had a hard time to convince him to go out and enjoy the sunshine and to get some color in his cheeks.

Inuyasha smiled fondly at the memory of his belief that it was hiding in his mother's room that made him so pale and silver… It was a childish notion but one that he clung to in explanation of why he was so different from everyone around him.

It had taken him a full week before his effort had even begun to show. The removal of the leaves had taken the longest but he was pleased with the result as he laid down some dried long grass and other foliage as a barrier against the cold stone floor.

Kuufuku had a blast hopping through the grass-covered floor. Every once in a while Inuyasha would see a flash of grey as the rat leapt from one side to the other and burrowed through the terrain, leaving little rat sized tunnels behind.

He had even taken to hanging some dried flowers and fruits to the walls to make the cave more inviting. Happy with his work, Inuyasha glanced around to see if he was forgetting anything before stepping out into the bright sunshine.

The storm had finally broken on the second day of his mad cleaning and had lasted for three. However the fresh scent of the rain soaked forest was worth it.

Quickly dashing into the woods, Inuyasha kept a keen eye out for possible food. Winter was barely a month away and he knew from vast experience that if he wanted to eat during those three long, harsh months he had to hunt _now_.

Jumping from tree to tree, Inuyasha occasionally leapt down to investigate something that looked promising before continuing onward.

He spotted some promising mushrooms but it was an hour later when he hit pay dirt.

He would not have spotted the creature if it hadn't been for the sudden flick of it's tail and Inuyasha had to force himself to a stop and turn around to confirm he saw anything at all.

A lone adolescent buck was grazing as if without a care in the world just a few feet away from him. Inuyasha grinned excitedly. Deer meat was not one of his favorite, but a kill that size would last for quite a while.

Dropping to the forest floor he slowly made his way towards the animal rejecting the idea of using the Tetsusaiga and instead flexed his claws as he stealthily crossed the woods.

He was almost upon the buck, poised for the kill when he suddenly had this undeniable feeling of eyes staring at him. As he hesitated, there was a harsh snort behind him.

Freezing in his place, Inuyasha slowly turned, fearing what he would find.

…It was.

An older buck, with a _large_ rack of horns was staring menacingly down at him.

"Er…"

The deer flattened his ears and raised his head to let out a long baying call that forced Inuyasha to flatten his sensitive koinu ears.

There was another answering call from the young buck he had been hunting but what worried Inuyasha was the multitude of similar answers that echoed through the forest.

"Oh SHIT!" Inuyasha screamed as a sudden thunder resonated throughout the woods.

He turned to try and move out of the way but the heard was upon him in an instant and Inuyasha was quickly overrun. Soon he was simply trying to avoid razor like hooves and even sharper horns as escape became impossible.

The herd disappeared as quickly as it had come and Inuyasha was struggling to his feet staring after the dancing white tails of the animals.

"Damn it! Who needs you?" he screamed as he started to make his way through the forest after the beasts. "No one would want to eat you anyway!" he huffed as yanked his Fire Rat Robe free from a jutting branch.

"Immaculate appearance as always," a voice suddenly declared in an amused timbre.

Inuyasha jumped at the recognition and whirled around. There, standing right in front of him was Sesshoumaru smirking at him as usual.

"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here? It's not…" he trailed off as he spotted the little girl that stood behind Sesshoumaru's cloak.

Rin peeked around Sesshoumaru's legs and gifted Inuyasha with a warm smile. She told him of the small cluster of twigs in his hair and Inuyasha immediately started with their removal.

"What on earth were you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked as he sneered in disgust at his disheveled look.

' _Who does he think he is to give me orders_?' Inuyasha thought angrily as he glared at the other. "None of your business!" he huffed in annoyance.

Sesshoumaru's reply had been to yank a twig out violently from his hair.

He jumped back, ensuring that Sesshoumaru could not reach him. "Careful!" he shouted as he stared at the few strands that Sesshoumaru had taken along with the twig.

"You look as if that herd of deer ran over you," the Youkai announced and Inuyasha could feel the heat rise to his cheeks.

"Couldn't get out of the way fast enough," he mumbled and smiled down at Rin who was attempting to remove the dust from his pants.

"Why were you chasing the deer anyway?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha could feel his tolerance ware thin. "None of your business!" he repeated.

"You always say that," Sesshoumaru told him, "so I'm making it my business."

' _You make anything that has to do with me your business,_ ' Inuyasha thought sarcastically as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Sesshoumaru suddenly changed the subject. "Why are you standing funny?" he questioned.

Inuyasha flinched in surprise. "I'm not!" he insisted but still took a mental stock of any and all injuries. He could swear that he was not standing funnily and he scowled at Sesshoumaru's keen instincts and took the option to deny everything

"Yes you are." Sesshoumaru's contradicted.

Inuyasha shifted under his gaze again and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Are you still limping?"

The word "no" was already out of his mouth before he could think better of it.

"Yes you are. Just what the hell is wrong with you?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

"There's _nothing_ wrong with me!" he insisted, even as he could feel his muscles freezing up on him. He grit his teeth and continued to stare at the Inu Youkai.

"Besides your terrible lack of ability to lie?" Sesshoumaru drawled.

Inuyasha could feel what was left of his endurance finally snap at the barb. "That's it! If we're going to fight, lets go. I've go no time trade insults with you."

Sesshoumaru simply stared at him for a few moments before turning his back on the angry hanyou.

Inuyasha gapped as Sesshoumaru helped Rin onto the dragons back and with a quick nod to Jaken, made his way back towards him.

Sesshoumaru made a point of walking past him so closely that the fur of Sesshoumaru's stole actually brushed against him.

Inuyasha tensed, waiting for something to happen.

So it was no surprise when Sesshoumaru's parting phrase of "don't get killed" confused Inuyasha even more as he watched them go.

' _What the hell?_ ' he thought in bewilderment. ' _Bah,_ " _don't get killed_ "… _Like I haven't taken care of my self for the better part of a century…Still, what did he mean by that_?' he wondered. ' _I'm the one he wants dead…_ '

Inuyasha gave the little team one last longing glance before leaping back into the trees feeling almost dejected that they left him behind.

While it had been a tense encounter, Inuyasha was almost desperate for company. Kuufuku, for all his entertaining wonder, could not hold a conversation very well.

It was sad almost, that Sesshoumaru's group was actually better behaved than his own… of course one imp and a little girl wouldn't cause as much trouble as say a lecherous monk.

They seemed to be much closer too… Well, Sesshoumaru and Rin were at least.

Sighing, he turned and continued on in the search of food for the coming winter.


	15. Daylight Hours

A week later after the deer incident, Inuyasha was gazing over the rather large pile of food that he had squirreled away in the confusing round-a-bout passageway that went nowhere.

' _It's a good start_ ,' he thought as moved a large jug he had appropriated from a village some miles away. ' _Still don't know if this will last the winter._ '

As he returned to the main cavern he smirked at Kuufuku, whom had dragged yet another piece of silk cloth from who knew where that just had to been Sesshoumaru's, and had half devoured it.

"You're going to get sick," Inuyasha told him as he passed.

Kuufuku promptly burped.

Inuyasha laughed at the sight, "suit your self."

Grabbing a small basket sitting by the entrance, another item he had "acquired", he stepped back out into the sunshine.

The sun was so very warm and Inuyasha had never felt better as he tilted his head back to allow the suns rays to dance over his face. "All right!" he stated exuberantly as he stretched out his arms above his head. "Back to work I go!"

And he went.

Kuufuku remained where he was for a while before sitting up and smelling the air. There was a familiar scent on the wind, very faint but getting stronger.

The rushes were soon pushed aside as the small creature started to drag the sash out of the cave and if one were to see him, they would have sworn the rat was smirking.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, had made his way deep into the woods and was occasionally picking different kinds of edible plants and placing them in the basket.

While meat was more defiantly the meal of an Inu, the human in him sometimes demanded a taste of something less bloody.

' _Though if I ever see that deer again, its toast,_ ' he growled as he added some late blooming blackberries to the pile. Popping a few in his mouth, he continued on.

The thought about the damn deer had brought another image to Inuyasha's mind.

Sesshoumaru.

' _Why am I getting so jumpy every single time I see him_?' he wondered as he added some walnuts to the basket. ' _It's not like I've never seen him before, he hasn't changed or anything…_ '

A small smile crossed his face as he remembered the Inu's look of surprise when he had answered his very thoughts.

He truly didn't see how that was anything to freak out about. There have been countless times he heard a demons thoughts in his head…

' _Well okay, one time,_ ' Inuyasha admitted to himself. ' _But the Lesser Demons are_ dead _and I very much doubt they'll tell anyone._ '

As Inuyasha thought back over the past months, he found himself smiling more than not at the antics that had happened.

He was still rather amused at Sesshoumaru's use of the word "goo" and made a promise to himself that he would get Sesshoumaru to lighten up a little.

The man was far too aloof to Inuyasha's mind and it was just so fun to get the Youkai completely frazzled.

He wondered if there was ever a time that Sesshoumaru woke up with mused bed hair before giggling at the thought.

' _He's probably beat his hair into submission before allowing anything like that to happen._ '

Still smirking, Inuyasha lowered himself to his knees and started to pick through the small plants that grew around a rotting log.

He paused mid pluck of some herbal leaves as the memory of the Youkai wards rose.

When he had been thrown backwards by the wards while he still possessed youkai blood only to be caught by his brother… That feeling had emerged again.

The emotion that Inuyasha had no name for welled inside his chest at the feeling of Sesshoumaru's arm around his waist. The weight had comforted him somehow and that disturbed Inuyasha more than his unnamed feeling.

All he knew was that when he could feel Sesshoumaru's breath tickle the small tips of his ears and ruffle his strands of hair, Inuyasha's unknown feeling nearly overwhelmed him.

And then Sesshoumaru had dropped him and the feeling was quickly dispersed.

Scowling at that memory, Inuyasha yanked out the rest of the leaves and began to march back to the cave.

It was only natural for Inuyasha to have his brother on his mind, or at least that was what he told himself. After all, he had been spending more time with the silver youkai than anyone else.

Whenever he left the sanctuary of the cave and returned to the village, most of the time he left immediately after returning to hide out in the trees from Kagome's rages.

The last time had been the absolute worse. Not only did Kagome, _Kagome_ of all people, insult his mother and his half heritage but had actually physically lashed out at him; swinging a large branch and striking him right in the head.

Sango and Miroku had managed to restrain Kagome's arms but had not been able to silence her words as a multitude of "Osuwari" were fired out in rapid succession.

Striking the ground multiple times added to the already fierce head wound had nearly forced the hanyou to pass out.

It had been a horrible scene and Inuyasha was only grateful that Shippo had been out playing with the other village children.

Kaede had tried to fix him up but Inuyasha preferred to be alone to lick his wounds and left the village for a good ten days, hiding in the woods.

The others had occasionally approached, looking for the missing Hanyou but he refused to reveal himself.

The only one who had found him, who could find him, when Inuyasha was in stealth mode had been Kirara. She was the only one who Inuyasha would allowed to see his true feelings and when she had leapt into the tree to join him he had cuddled the neko to him and allowed himself to let the tears free.

Inuyasha had prayed as the little group had formed that he had finally, after years of watching from the side lines and wanting, had found what he never had as a child.

Friends.

But he knew that he had simply been deluding himself that quiet night when he finally came to his decision.

It wasn't so much the beating he had received that had strengthened his resolve to leave, but the fact that upon his return everyone went right back to acting normal, even if they were only doing it as a pretense to sooth the kitsune, Inuyasha knew that he could not remain there.

As quietly as he could the night before he was to leave, Inuyasha packed away his few possessions and left the village for what he hoped was for good.

There were always other ways for him to find the Jewel shards. He did not need Kagome and while the other two were great to have around during a battle, Inuyasha could very well take care of his own.

His only regret had been leaving Shippo in the care of humans, but what else could he do? He didn't have time to take the child with him and he knew that Shippo wouldn't understand why they were leaving the others.

Shippo loved his little makeshift family and Inuyasha could not bring himself to take a child away from what he himself had lost.

Hell, he barely had enough food to feed himself, to add Shippo's equal if not more so growing appetite; the cave would be empty in a week.

Inuyasha sighed as he continued onward when he was quickly brought out of his musing by a sudden flash of silver out of the corner of his eye.

' _What in the world_?' he wondered as he slowed his steps and peered into the forest searching for the object. ' _The only thing silver besides myself is Sesshoumaru, but he wouldn't be here yet…_ '

Reaching the edge of the woods he stared in amazement. ' _And yet there he is, slowly sneaking up on a rat. Keh…_ '

Hefting the basket to the crook of his arm, Inuyasha withdrew the Tetsusaiga and went to Kuufuku's aid.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded as he halted his brother mid-swing. "Why are you so obsessed with killing Kuufuku?"

Sesshoumaru scowled, re-sheathing Tokujin. "What are you doing here two weeks early?" he questioned, completely ignoring Inuyasha's own inquire. "And who the hell is Kuufuku?"

Inuyasha smirked as Kuufuku answered to his name.

"YOU NAMED THE RAT?"

Inuyasha suppressed another laugh and instead simply shrugged.

"What the fuck?" Sesshoumaru sputtered as he glanced down at the rat to Inuyasha and back to the rat again.

Inuyasha was about to ask why Sesshoumaru was there again when a small voice suddenly floated out from the forest.

Inuyasha's gaze snapped to the edge of the woods and the three occupants that waited there before he whirled to Sesshoumaru, his furry clashing with a sense of panic.

"Why did you bring them here?"

"It wasn't exactly planned…" Sesshoumaru admitted.

Inuyasha stared at him, "what do you mean it wasn't planned?" he asked in disbelief as he set the basket down; the thing was heavy.

He didn't believe Sesshoumaru's excuse for one second. Sesshoumaru wasn't the sort of person who would do things on a whim… he had to have brought them here for a purpose and Inuyasha did not believe for one second that it was to kill a small defenseless rat.

Inuyasha wanted to _kill_ him.

It was as his frazzled mind was running around in little yapping circles that the small human child approached him.

"Hello Inuyasha-Sama!" she smiled brightly as she gave him a very practice but still shaky bow.

His mind suddenly stopped at the show of respect to him. "Er, hi," he mumbled embarrassed at the display.

"Why are you gathering food?"

The question shook Inuyasha out of his daze and he turned to give Sesshoumaru a look of pure menace. "Because winter is coming," he said slowly as if speaking to someone Rin's age and not a some-odd centuries old Youkai. "You remember winter, don't you? Snow, cold, the complete lack of food…"

"Yes, I do know what winter is," Sesshoumaru frowned at him, "but why should you be gathering food? Do you not live in that horrible little human village?"

Inuyasha could feel his heart freeze.

The village! And Sesshoumaru for some odd reason or another that only he knew about was obsessed with Inuyasha's safety.

' _Oh no_! _When he realized that I've left the village, he's going to be pissed_!'

Inuyasha's stomach rebelled, the few blackberries threatening to come back up to greet the day. ' _Oh_ God,' he thought with growing horror. ' _What if he takes me back_?'

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha's growing panic and turning stormed into the cave.

' _Oh God,_ ' he nearly swayed on his feet. ' _My_ freedom…'

"Inuyasha-Sama."

Inuyasha jerked and glanced down at the small girl that Sesshoumaru had somewhat adopted.

She held out a little purple bag, embroidered with gold thread.

He could feel the toad demon's eyes watching him menacingly but for the moment ignored the ugly imp and hesitantly took the small bag. He glancing at her curiously, opened it.

The smell of the pasties inside made his mouth water and his stomach rumble.

"The nice ladies at the village sneaked this to Rin!" Rin said with pride, smiling up at him. "Will it help?" she asked as she pointed to his abandoned basket.

He was moved by the girl's generosity. Usually he had to fight for his food and here was this small human child unselfishly offering him what she was obviously saving for herself.

Thanking her, he told her to continue to hold on to the buns and smiled as her bottom lip jutted out in a pout.

It was then that the sound of Sesshoumaru's return echoed behind him and spotting the toads evil smirk felt a hand grab the back of his robe and the world spun as he was whirled around.

The planet focused again and Inuyasha found himself staring into Sesshoumaru's angry golden eyes.

The unknown feeling started to bubble to the surface only to take one glance at Sesshoumaru's angry look and retreated back the way it had come.

"Inuyasha…"

The said hanyou gulped as Sesshoumaru leaned forward, their noses almost touching.

"Are you actually _living_ in the cave?"


	16. Gloomy Explanations

There was absolute silence in the tiny glen as all eyes zeroed in on the sweating hanyou. Even Jaken was giving him an odd look.

Inuyasha gulped as a large bead of sweat appeared at the back of his head.

"Er… Define 'living'," he stammered nervously.

"YOU'RE LIVING IN A CAVE?" Rin shouted. "That's so NEAT!"

"Rin!" Sesshoumaru glowered at the girl who looked up at him innocently with clamped lips. The youkai turned back to the squirming figure in his grip. "Care to explain this?"

"Um, well…"

"Sesshoumaru-Sama," Jaken finally spoke up as he made his way to the clustered group. "I know you stated to never question you when it comes to… er… this person, but I am wondering why this is such a problematic situation."

Sesshoumaru growled again and wondered if he could manage to whap the imp over the head while maintaining his grip on the struggling hanyou.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama," Rin finally piped up.

"In a moment," Sesshoumaru snapped at her, to Jaken he said, "This is something that I must discuss with my brother. It is a matter concerning the greater good of the Inu Clan."

Jaken was sweating and his knees were shaking but he stubbornly continued on. "I do not understand why this er, _person_ has -if any-say in what goes on in the clan my lord."

"Sesshoumaru-Sama…" Rin whined again.

"Inuyasha may not have a say but _I_ do, and I've told you before not to question me in regards to my brother."

"I am sorry my lord but I must insist in this matter," Jaken persisted and his shaking got worse.

"There are thing's in this world that an inu must deal with, and someone like you could not comprehend."

"But my lord, this person is an outcast by your own hand."

"I may have disowned him as a member of the royal family," Sesshoumaru snarled, "however he was never cast out of the Inu Clan."

Jaken actually stopped shaking and he just stared at his leader in shock. "But your decree my lord…"

"INUYASHA-SAMA!" Rin, who had given up trying to get her companions attention, finally turned to Inuyasha who was still trying to remove his collar from Sesshoumaru's iron grip.

Stopping in mid struggle, Inuyasha swiveled an ear down in the girl's direction. "Yeah?" he asked.

" _I have to go to the bathroom_ …"

All three males sweat dropped.

"Uh…" Inuyasha graced the child with his blank stare.

"Yes Rin, you are excused," Sesshoumaru told her politely.

"Arigato," the girl smiled and turned to go back into the woods for privacy when Inuyasha suddenly yelled for her to halt.

"You can't let her go alone," Inuyasha was now slapping at Sesshoumaru's arm in earnest. "I saw a bear a few days ago and there are traps!"

Sesshoumaru arched an elegant eyebrow. "You set up traps?" he asked amused as he finally dropped the smaller hanyou.

Inuyasha huffed as he walked over and took the girls hand. "Didn't want him to try and set up residence while I was gone…"

Sesshoumaru stared down at the furry rodent that was actually chasing his own tail. "Can't see why not," Sesshoumaru drawled, "I'm sure he would be better company that the rat."

"AND DON'T HURT KUUFUKU!"

Sesshoumaru glanced back down at the insane ball of fur. "Oh wouldn't dream of it…" he muttered as his hand went to the hilt of Tokujin.

The rat darted back into the cave and Sesshoumaru clicked his tongue in annoyance of the rats escape.

It was a few moments later when Inuyasha and one contented little girl returned and sighing, Inuyasha gestured towards the cave. "It's getting late," he explained. "Might as well talk inside."

Sesshoumaru did not wait for any further invite before marching back into the cave once more, leaving the others with no choice but to follow.

After lighting the fire again and moving to light the few candles he had taken from Kaede's hut, Inuyasha returned and sat with the others at the small table he had set up in a corner of the room.

"Where did all these things come from?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha sat up taller in defiance, "I brought them."

Sesshoumaru gave him a disbelieving stare. "Brought them from where?"

"The village." It was true; he had acquired them from a village. Just not the one Sesshoumaru thought.

Rin was glancing around the cave with wide eyes at all the little knick-knacks that always seemed to appear in a home.

"Why do you have grass in the cave?" she asked.

"It's to keep out the chill."

"Oh…" she looked at the grass again still trying to understand what it had to do with the cold.

"Yes, this is all fascinating however none of it explains why you are here." Sesshoumaru brought the attention back to the matter at hand.

Sighing, Inuyasha crossed his arms and slumped across the smooth expanse of the tabletop. "Short version?" he asked. "I couldn't stay at the village anymore."

Sesshoumaru smirked, "finally kicked you out?"

"No, I just left," Inuyasha simply stated.

Sesshoumaru jerked in surprise. "You mean you left voluntarily?"

Inuyasha shifted awkwardly and rose from the table, moving towards the fire pit and swinging a makeshift bracket over the fire to heat the small kettle that hung from it. "Well, it wasn't exactly 'voluntarily'," he finally admitted.

He moved on to a little chest and removed a small verity of pouches and a few mismatched cups.

Even Jaken could tell the hanyou was nervous and disliked the conversation but Lord Sesshoumaru was a hard person to shake when he was on to something.

"I think you better give us the long version," the youkai stated firmly as he settled himself more comfortably for what he expected was a long account of things.

Sighing, Inuyasha filled the cups with the herbs and the now boiled water and served his guest the tea before settling down with his own cup.

"It was really a matter of survival," he said.

"Survival?" Jaken asked. Sesshoumaru glared at him and the imp tried to make himself as small as possible.

"Yeah. I honestly did not think it was safe for me there anymore."

"So they really did kick you out because of you heritage? I thought that village claimed to be above such prejudice viewpoints." Sesshoumaru guessed.

Inuyasha shook his head. "That wasn't it at all."

Setting down the cup, Inuyasha looked right into Sesshoumaru's eyes as he said, "I was afraid Kagome was going to kill me."

Dead silence.

"You mean that nice lady in the funny cloths?" Rin asked.

"Rin!" Jaken hissed and both turned to see Sesshoumaru's reaction.

The fury was evident on Sesshoumaru's face but who exactly he was angry at was anyone's guess.

"How could she harm you?" Sesshoumaru asked. "You were able to remove the necklace."

Inuyasha shifted guiltily. "Er, I haven't really been back since then…"

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in comprehension and his eyes shot towards Inuyasha's bruised chin. "You brought a bag," he whispered in realization. "You didn't open it that night…"

"Yeah," Inuyasha nodded. "I knew before then that there was no possible way that I could go back. Not with the way things have been going."

"Why did you not say anything?"

Inuyasha gave Sesshoumaru a pointed look.

"…Oh."


	17. Tea Talk

Sesshoumaru figured that he had to have consumed at least three pots of tea while the four of them had sat around Inuyasha's little stolen table in complete silence. Night had since fallen and Rin had long been sent to Inuyasha's futon for sleep as the hanyou made yet another kettle full.

Refilling the cups, Inuyasha once more sat, threw back his head and downed the portion in one go.

Sesshoumaru frowned at the brown liquid that sloshed around in his cup. Tea was all well and good, but at that moment the youkai wanted something a little more… intoxicating.

"Don't you have any sake?" he asked the hanyou who was already pouring himself a third cup.

Inuyasha stopped and glanced up at the other inu, "sake?" he asked as he set aside the kettle. "Don't much care for it."

Sesshoumaru mind boggled. "What do you mean… you 'don't much care for it'?"

Shrugging Inuyasha took Sesshoumaru's now cold tea and drank it quickly before refilling it with a fresh batch. "I don't like sake. People do stupid things where they're drunk and someone like me can't afford to act stupid."

Sesshoumaru gave him a sarcastic look, "as oppose to your normal stupidity?"

The hanyou glared and shoved the small cup back towards him forcefully, some of the warm liquid sloshing over the rim and fell over his hand. "You could very well leave," he told him.

Sesshoumaru simply took the new offering and sipped the drink smoothly. "You still haven't told us the rest of the story."

Inuyasha glared at him as he sat back. "I told you. That's it."

"That is most assuredly not all 'it'," Sesshoumaru sneered. "That is just where you stopped."

Inuyasha huffed in annoyance but still said nothing as he raised his hand and started to lick off the spilled tea.

Starting at the wrist, the dainty pink tongue slowly trailed upward, making sure that he managed to capture the small flowing drops that trailed downward. Spreading his fingers, Inuyasha lapped at the wetness between each one before placing his fingers one at a time, completely in his mouth and sucked them clean.

Sesshoumaru nearly choked on his tea. ' _Fuck_.'

He had always prided himself on his ability to keep his emotions in check. It was an accomplishment for a warrior to keep control over every element of his youki and to focus on the battle.

' _Right… so why does it feel as if there's a sumo match going on in my stomach_?' he wondered.

Sesshoumaru continued to stare as the hanyou licked away any traces of the tea completely oblivious to the distraction it caused the other youkai.

Now Sesshoumaru _really_ wanted that drink.

"You still haven't explained why it is that you chose the cave." Sesshoumaru stated instead, desperately trying to keep his mind off the small pink tongue.

Inuyasha shrugged, "why not?"

Sesshoumaru hummed. "Why not indeed."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Inuyasha continued. "And since we know about the back chamber, there's really no reason for you to concern yourself with me any longer isn't there?"

Sesshoumaru jerked in reaction. "Do you really expect that you would be safe here even with the wards?" he demanded.

"What wards?" Jaken asked but his small question was lost as Inuyasha slammed his fist on the table.

"Why not? You said yourself that the wards will not allow a youkai through, why shouldn't I be protected when I'm human," he contradicted.

Jaken gawked at the statement as the conversation continued carelessly around him.

"You are obviously a larger baka than I had originally thought!" Sesshoumaru shouted back.

"What does _that_ mean?" Inuyasha snapped.

"It means, you moron, that the wards were _built_ by **someone** to begin with. It is stupid to think that someone couldn't just as easily eradicate them!" With each word, Sesshoumaru leaned forward towards Inuyasha menacingly and he nearly jumped at the sudden fierce string of twittering from the rat behind the hanyou.

Scowling at the animal and raised his cup to better aim for the rodent and the rat delved into the rushes. Sesshoumaru scowled before setting his cup back down on the table and reached for the blasted kettle again.

Inuyasha shuddered as Sesshoumaru's words hit him full force and he finally understood what it was that his brother was trying to get into his thick skull. "Naraku."

"Yes… him," Sesshoumaru sneered as he took another sip of tea, resisting the urge cuff those ridiculously distracting ears.

"Well fuck," Inuyasha muttered as he rose to make another serving of tea.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes at the Inuyasha's complete lack of awareness. "You were probably better off in that horrible village."

Inuyasha whirled around, nearly clonking Jaken on the head with the kettle as he glared at Sesshoumaru. "Would you just _drop_ it?" he shouted.

The Inu Youkai raised an eyebrow. "Why are you being so difficult?" he countered. "It is just humans. Kill them and move on."

"What would you know about friends?" Inuyasha roared as he waved the kettle about in emphasis nearly managing to thwap Jaken at least four more times. "You probably never had any in your entire life!"

"Well of course I never had friends," Sesshoumaru stated in mater of fact tone. "With my position, 'friends' are never just 'friends'. They could betray you for the smallest bit of coin or even worse, to try and use you to further their position. No," Sesshoumaru shook his head. "It is unwise and dangerous for myself to have 'friends'."

Jaken nodded in agreement though no one was paying the smallest bit of attention to him while Inuyasha stopped in mid-motion and just gaped at him in astonishment.

"You never had any friends?" he asked amazed.

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "What need of I for friends?"

Inuyasha turned and jerked the kettle in Jaken's direction, ignoring the imp's automatic duck. "What about him?"

A sneer, "Jaken is my servant…" he said in a voice that told Inuyasha he should have known that.

"All right then, what about her?" and this time he gestured towards the futon with the still sleeping Rin.

Sesshoumaru shrugged and said nothing more.

Inuyasha stared at him for a few moments before finally turning back to the fire and the undertaking of the tea.

"Are you trying to drown us?" Sesshoumaru asked annoyed.

Inuyasha glared. "You don't have to drink it, baka inu."

The scowl returned full force.

' _Why the hell am I pressing the issue_?' Sesshoumaru wondered as he watched Inuyasha methodically go though the motions of tea making. ' _If he ever learned the discipline of the tea ceremony, he would be quite graceful at it._ '

His face quickly darkened and Jaken began inching backwards.

' _What the hell am I thinking_?' Sesshoumaru reprimand himself. ' _He is nothing more that a filthy hanyou. Grace_? _Hah_!'

He glanced at the figure in red. ' _Still…_ '

It was so odd, to see Inuyasha doing something so mundane as making tea. Usually all he ever saw of the hanyou was mostly fighting and the occasional foolish antics. ' _Or is it the other way around_?' he questioned as he watched as the heated kettle boil over and Inuyasha's frantic attempt to save some of the water.

Sesshoumaru finally took this time to study, really _study_ Inuyasha the same way he had when he first saw him as a human. The way he had the very first time he saw him sitting at that tiny Koi pond all those years ago.

' _He has certainly filled out nicely from the scrawny child he had been, that's for sure_ ,' he thought. Not that Sesshoumaru would ever admit it aloud, but he could still admire him- silently, of course.

Years of fighting for his life had toned the hanyou's muscles and slimed his physique, though how anyone could tell under the blasted Fire Rat Robe was anyone's guess.

Then there was the hanyou's stance. That sense of fluidity, which simply radiated of the hanyou while he danced with the Tetsusaiga, was an enigma. Not even the bird demons of the Hakuchoo Clan could rival that poise.

Inuyasha was a daunting enemy in battle, Sesshoumaru could attest to that.

The very subject of his thoughts then let out a surprised squawk as the kettle finally boiled over completely and spilled onto the hanyou's bare foot. Hopping around while trying to sooth the burnt appendage, Inuyasha managed to lose his balance and went flailing backwards onto the soft cushioning of the rushes, nearly flattening the rat in the process.

' _And then you take the sword out of his hands and he becomes a bumbling oaf,_ ' Sesshoumaru finished as Inuyasha started to apologize, _apologize_ , to the rat.

' _Humph. Baka_ ,' Sesshoumaru huffed and returned to his bland, ordinary tea.

Inuyasha apologized to Kuufuku again before once more trying to make a sixth pot of tea. Sighing, he gave the kettle a depressing glance and begrudgingly admitted to himself that the tea was no longer appealing.

He wondered if he could find a way to get that carbonated sugar drink called "soda pop". But to get the "soda pop" meant going back to the small village and the Bone Eater Well and that meant possibly running into Kagome as the well was at her shrine and all.

Sighing, he once more delved into the small chest and looked for another combination of tealeaves. It was a mundane task but it kept him focused if even for a moment.

It had come as a bit of a shock to the hanyou to find out that perhaps Sesshoumaru had just as bad a childhood as him.

' _I wonder what he was like as a child,_ ' Inuyasha wondered. ' _Was he ever happy_? _Did he ever play as a child_?'

He snuck another glance at the menacing Youkai. ' _Did he ever_ smile?'

Ensuring that there was still enough water in the small barrel Inuyasha sighed and settled down for the second attempt to boil water.

The nightlong discussion was beginning to take it's toll on him and Inuyasha could feel yet another headache coming on.

He peeked at the regal figure that sat behind the scared wood of the table.

' _What_ was _Sesshoumaru like as a child_? _Hell,_ ' Inuyasha smirked. ' _What was he like short_?'

He studied the other youkai. His _brother_.

It was so odd. They were like night at day! Sesshoumaru was the epitome of elegance, while he was the very personification of ineptness.

Sesshoumaru's very looks were even vastly different than his own! Setting aside the hair and eyes, their physiques were complete opposites.

Sesshoumaru was tall and agile with an aura that radiated his authority. Even his very features were lean and angular with a sharp nose and high cheekbones.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, had a rounder more childish face that made him look more like an impudent kid than anything else. As for his physical stature… ' _Hell, I'm just plain short…_ ' he snorted in annoyance.

Inuyasha sighed as he once more stole a look at his elder brother. ' _Why is it that he's so freaking fascinating?_ ' he asked himself. ' _He's a completely rude, arrogant, stuck-up jerk!'_

Sesshoumaru reached up to push a strand of hair behind his elfin ear.

' _And completely stunning,_ ' Inuyasha moaned. ' _While I'm…_ ' he paused as he ran a hand through his own hair, grimacing when his fingers found more tangles and even a few more twigs that just seemed to gravitate to his hair.

' _Hell,_ ' he tried to discreetly groom himself unnoticed.

Inuyasha never really cared about his appearance. It didn't mater to the demons that tried to kill him on what he looked like, but one look of revulsion from Sesshoumaru made Inuyasha feel totally filthy.

Yanking out a few more twigs, Inuyasha looked up right into heated golden eyes. Blushing, he jerked his hand down from his hair and gave Sesshoumaru a defiant gaze.

Sesshoumaru said nothing and returned to the last of his tea.

Inuyasha waited for a moment before standing and retrieving the kettle from the fire, adding a few more logs to the flame before returning to the table.

Once more replenishing the tea, he sat down and was glad that this pot didn't end up on his poor foot. He briefly realized that it had been the same leg that had been injured by the lesser demons all those weeks ago.

' _Man, is the only luck I have bad luck_?' he wondered in annoyance.

"What did you put in _this_ pot?" Sesshoumaru's voice piped up.

Inuyasha startled. "Er, just some random leaves," he muttered.

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow went up again. "Dare I fear that there's poison oak in this?"

' _Keh, it's bad luck alright,_ ' Inuyasha confirmed. "I do know the difference, thank you."

"Hmm." Sesshoumaru still set aside the cup. Even Jaken was gazing into the dark liquid in question.

Snorting, Inuyasha took a large sip just to prove it was drinkable.

Turning somewhat green, he peered back into the cup before collecting the others and, dumping the sludge, started again.

"You know, you can leave at any time," he hinted.

Sesshoumaru jutted his chin up in defiance. "You still have not told us about the Miko."

Inuyasha groaned again as he set aside the kettle and instead started to dig out something to eat.

' _Yup. Nothing but bad luck._ '


	18. Say that again?

"I've said it three times already," Inuyasha stated. "It's none of your business."

"You know," Sesshoumaru sighed, "that line is getting really old."

"It's the truth!" Inuyasha snapped in frustration.

"Can you not see how wrong this is?" Sesshoumaru hissed, mindful of the sleeping child.

Inuyasha had no such concerns. The child could probably sleep though a battle from the snores that his koinu ears were picking up. "You think I didn't notice?" he yelled.

"That Miko has outlived any usefulness as far as I can see."

Inuyasha jumped to his feet. "You can't kill her!"

"I do not see why not," Sesshoumaru stated. "Miko or no, she is just a pathetic ningen."

Inuyasha shook his head venomously. "I still can't allow you to kill her. She is the only one who can purify the Jewel Shards. And…" he trailed off, reluctant to say anything further.

"…and?" Sesshoumaru prompted.

Sighing Inuyasha continued, "and she's my friend."

A narrowed gaze and Sesshoumaru rose to his own feet, "would a 'friend' collar you?" he asked scathingly.

Jaken raised looked up curiously but had long since given up getting a word in edgewise.

"It wasn't exactly her," Inuyasha admitted. "It was actually Kaede who placed the beads and I can not blame her for fearing the creature she saw as the murderer of her sister even though we now know it was Naraku disguised as me at the time."

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but feel disturbed that Naraku once disguised himself as his hanyou brother and filed that information away for further examination as Inuyasha continued.

"Kagome really only held the power to make it work," Inuyasha finished.

"And the power to remove the beads a her leisure."

Inuyasha reluctantly nodded. "You can't really blame her for that though, she's still a child by ningen standards."

A glare, "as are you by youkai standards."

Inuyasha jerked in surprise as Sesshoumaru once more leaned over the table. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "I'm over two hundred you know, hardly a koinu!"

Sesshoumaru's gaze flicked over the small fuzzy ears before looking into Inuyasha's stubborn gaze. "You were bound to a tree for fifty of those years."

Inuyasha eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. "Is that why you have been so insistent in this alliance?" he demanded. "Because I'm still not of the majority?"

Sesshoumaru scoffed as he sat back down, reaching for the small bowl of fruits that Inuyasha had brought out. "Not in the least," he stated as he bit into a winter apple.

Inuyasha looked puzzled as he once again sat down. All this standing and sitting was beginning to irritate him but damn it if it wasn't effective.

"If you aren't concerned about my age, then what the hell are you worried about?" Inuyasha demanded.

Sesshoumaru scowled and bit into his apple again.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "if you don't want to tell me you could just say so. But I think I deserve an explanation SEEING AS IT'S MY LIFE!"

The Inu Youkai set down the half eaten fruit and once more reached for the last of the tea. "No," Sesshoumaru said.

Inuyasha nearly threw the apple at his head. "What the hell? And yet you keep insisting that I tell you about Kagome and the others?"

"Yes," Sesshoumaru sneered. "The others, those other humans who _have_ reached the age of majority. What of them? Hmm? Were they completely oblivious to the goings on?"

Inuyasha shifted guiltily but knew anything he said would be taken the wrong way and who knew what Sesshoumaru would do to Sango and Miroku.

"You can not tell me that they had no idea of what was happening between you and the odd Miko child."

Shaking his head, Inuyasha refused to give Sesshoumaru his answer.

"But you have told me once that the monk had gone to a shrine to escape the tension."

Inuyasha picked up his own piece of fruit. "Monks are sensitive to stressful situations I suppose," he tried half heartedly to explain.

In truth, each word Sesshoumaru uttered cut though like a knife to Inuyasha.

Why _had_ Miroku and Sango allow it to continue on as long as it did?

They knew that things had been getting worse with Kagome and yet they still persisted that it was just a phase and that if they ignored it, it would go away.

At least Miroku, a _monk_ for crying out loud, should have been able to help. Or at least give Inuyasha some better advice than to simply grab Kagome's ass and be done with it.

Sango even had taken to leaving the village for a string of very long "walks". "Walks" that would last a good few days before her return. They knew, they _knew_ that there had been something wrong and yet they prefer to continued going along pretending to be completely ignorant.

At least Kagome never did anything too violent in front of Shippo.

The kit worshiped the ground the Miko walked on and in his little eyes could see her do no wrong.

Inuyasha rubbed his chin in remembrance and winced.

She could be evil all right; he had the bruises to prove it. Even if the bruises had faded with the work of Sesshoumaru's miracle "goo" he still remembered.

Sesshoumaru watched Inuyasha critically as the hanyou thought back over whatever past events that led them to this point.

"Do you understand now?" The Youkai asked. "This is why we can not trust the humans. They are nothing but self absorbed pitiful creatures that have no sense of pride."

Inuyasha glared. "Clearly you've never been around too many humans."

"I do not need to be around them to know what they are," Sesshoumaru declared as he returned to his apple.

Inuyasha narrowed his own golden eyes. "Then you are lying through your fangs if you think that you know _me_ at all."

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow at Inuyasha's show of defiance and asked "You forget that I do know you, hanyou."

"And that's why you haven't been able to defeat me?" Inuyasha scoffed.

Sesshoumaru sat bolt upright, his elegant mouth curled up in a snarl.

Inuyasha released a growl of his own and both had their hands on the hilts of their respective swords.

There was a small cough and both inu youkai's turned to look at the small green imp.

"Um…" Jaken sweat dropped but set his own tea down and turned to his chosen master. "Sesshoumaru-sama. I am afraid that I do not understand what it is that is happening here."

"You are not suppose to understand," Sesshoumaru told him. "I have stated this before that this is between my brother and I."

Jaken swallowed nervously. "Yes Sesshoumaru-Sama, you have stated that but it was by your own decree that no one have contact with the er… with this person."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and the toad. "You would bound me by my own decrees?" he snapped.

Jaken gulped again and grabbed his tea. "N-no my lord."

"Then I truly do not see it as any concern to you."

"But my lord…" Jaken persisted and this time he got two angry gold eyes glaring at him. "Your contact with your brother like this is bound to start the gossip. You must remember your position…"

Now Inuyasha looked worried as he glanced to gage Sesshoumaru's reaction.

"So?"

Even Inuyasha rolled his eyes at that response.

It seemed Jaken too was use to Sesshoumaru's curt attitude.

"My lord, everyone knows that you are bound and determine to kill your, er, brother but if it is found out that you have had um…" he glanced between the two, " _civil_ contact with each other…" Jaken trailed off and tried to shuffle to a safe distance from his lord. "Then I am afraid that the other youkai will find you to be deceiving and will try to challenge your position as Lord of the West."

Sesshoumaru huffed. "Let them try to find me," he declared arrogantly. ' _I can't even find myself half the time…_ '

"But my Lord…"

Inuyasha was staring into his tea pensively. The toad did have a point.

If it were found out that they had an agreement… _hell_ \- that they had been _meeting_ in _secret_ for the better part of five months then the demons truly would challenge Sesshoumaru.

' _Every one knows that Sesshoumaru is determined to kill me,_ ' Inuyasha realized. ' _That he's had ample opportunity and had not taken it, it will be shown as a weakness,_ his _weakness, and that's the very reason that Sesshoumaru proposed this blasted_ " _truce_ " _to begin with._ '

Inuyasha sighed as he glanced around the cave. ' _What the hell does it matter_?' he wondered. ' _It's not like I've never been on my own before. And now it's back to the way things should be. Just me. Surviving. Alone._ ' Inuyasha finished off his tea in silence and stared down at the bottom of the porcelain cup. ' _So why is the though of being by myself so daunting_?'

Sesshoumaru was frowning as he mulled over Jaken's concerns.

' _I should have realized that this was going to be trouble,_ ' he thought in aggravation. It had been better that these matter were never brought up at all, but that was the reason he kept the little toad around in the first place.

The last thing he needed was someone to find out about his brothers human nights and his own strange shifting. ' _Inuyasha still has some other purpose… what it is, I still do not know but there is something else going on here._ '

He turned and growled at Jaken. "Then they best not find out that we have been in contact, shouldn't they?"

"Er… My Lord?" Jaken stared at him in puzzlement.

"The situation between us is far too important to abandon half way through. I must see if my instincts are right in this matter."

"What instincts?" Inuyasha glanced sharply at Sesshoumaru. "You **forced** me into this ceasefire to begin with! What _are_ you babbling about?"

Sesshoumaru completely disregarded him."Therefore, _you_ will return to the palace and ensure that there are no rumors regarding Inuyasha and myself. If there are, you are to report to me at once!"

"Sesshoumaru-Sama?" Jaken jerked startled. Sesshoumaru scowled and Jaken knew it was in his best interest not to try and dissuade the Inu Youkai. "And where will you be so that I may report to you?" he asked instead.

Sesshoumaru thought about this for a few moments before an evil grin broke out on his face. "I will be here."

Both Inuyasha and Jaken gave him a strange look.

"Er, where's 'here' Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked.

"Yeah, 'where's "here" Sesshoumaru-sama'?" Inuyasha mocked already feeling the dread creeping upward.

"At this cave," the Inu clarified.

Jaken's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in shock and Inuyasha could feel any semblance of solitude slowly slipping away.

"Rin and I will stay here for the winter," the Inu Youkai finished

Inuyasha started banging his head on the table rattling the cups with every thud. "Fucking wonderful."


	19. Horrid Happenings

Life in the village was no longer joyful; in fact it had become downright horrid.

The small figure did not need to look around at the multitude of puzzled and unhappy faces of the inhabitances to know that. It was actually quite sad that everything had come to this but such was life. ' _Well, life around here anyhow,_ ' the figure chuckled as dark eyes watched the activities of village continue around here.

The string of occurrences that seemed to center around the small village or rather around the hanyou who had lived here were all in all very amusing, however even the figure had to admit that life was now becoming difficult, even unbearable in the village.

The others felt it as well. The Lady Kaede had tried every healing potion she could in order to find a way to sooth the enraged miko, but alas to no avail.

Kagome was getting worse.

It had been no wonder that the koinu hanyou had left the village those few weeks before. It was never odd that the silver haired creature left for days and weeks at a time, no one ever questioned it. It was actually expected seeing as how it was hard for him to interact with others on a consistent daily bases.

So it was no surprise to anyone on the day before the new moon, they had awoken to an empty bed and the hanyou gone.

The figure, however, doubted anyone else realized that Inuyasha had absolutely no intentions of even returning. Though the figure certainly knew and worried how Kagome would react when she found out her prized "possession" had fled by his own free will.

For some disturbing reason, Kagome saw Inuyasha as just that. Her property; though many saw it as Kagome just having a small girlish crush on the half youkai, the figure **knew** that it was some twisted way for Kagome to show she had power over the boy.

The subjugation beads were of no help either.

It was as if Kagome had become completely obsessed over Inuyasha and the girl resented anyone who would even think to suggest otherwise. The fact that she had on numerous occasions tried to convince Inuyasha to travel down the well to her time had been suspicious as well.

She had begged and pleaded with him for the past few weeks to travel with her to the future. While before, Inuyasha would have jumped at the chance to go to the city where his beloved "Instant Raman" was, he flat out refused after the past few fights. The figure couldn't blame him however.

Shuddered in remembrance of the last fight and the large bruise that had formed on Inuyasha's chin from connecting with the hard ground the figure truly could not blame the boy for leaving. That had not been pretty.

It was almost as if Kagome was trying to keep the hanyou separate from the others. As if she was ensuring that the somewhat tentative bond that he had with the others were as strained as possible.

Perhaps the figure was just being paranoid, but the fact that Kagome wanted to take Inuyasha back to her own time without a solid explanation somehow was disturbing.

What had surprised the figure however was that Inuyasha had gained a suspicious mentality as well and had voiced that very thought on many occasions in the past few months.

' _I should have know that he was becoming even more miserable than he usually was,_ ' the figure chastised as it thought back to all the little things that it had missed at the time but now stood out in vivid detail. ' _That boy has had to many centuries cultivation that arrogant persona of unfeeling indifference._ '

Feeling ashamed and a little guilt ridden, the figure turned and started to walk in a random direction absently acknowledging the few calls of greeting that were called out on the way.

' _Why did I not see it before_?' the thoughts continued. ' _I can honestly say that I am the_ one _person who knows him best and yet even I could not see how troubled he was…_ '

The figure knew from scrutinizing how people reacted to Inuyasha that people almost always assumed that the boy was stupid and a little slow upon first meeting the hanyou but the figure also knew that the truth was _far_ from what it seemed. That Inuyasha had survived all these years when the odds for a young child, especially a young hanyou, were so stacked against him, showed how strong and cunning he really was.

That's why it was so surprising to see suspicion in those golden eyes whenever they looked at the young Miko.

Usually Inuyasha was so careful to maintain his outward appearance of being a dim hanyou but if there was actually doubt in his gaze then the figure should have realized that there was something truly wrong in what was going on in the village… and with Kagome.

Shaking its head at Inuyasha's deceptive persona the figure sighed and sat back down by the local butcher. ' _He's so much like his kinfolk that it's actually quite scary_ ,' the figure mused as the generous man hander over some leftover venison and then continued on.

The figure had felt terrible about the hanyou's situation but in truth, there had been nothing that could be done to help. The situation had occurred before the figure had even _met_ the two.

It was why there was the feeling of anger about the current problem.

The figure should have been able to _tell_ something was wrong with the girl but it had started out so subtlety that it was not until it was almost completely too late when the figure did realize what was happening to help the child. As it stood, the figure could not think of a _way_ to help Kagome return to her kinder self.

It was regretful when someone fell into the darkness but there was little that the figure could do.

The power that the figure possessed was not strong enough.

The only thing that the figure _could do_ was to ensure that the child that was part of their group was well taken care of.

It was odd that Inuyasha had left and not taken the kit with him, an oversight that he probably did not even realize at the time. However with Kagome returning to her time less and less, the figure's fear for the child's safety grew more and more.

Moving out of the way of an oncoming cart the figure started towards the small hut that was the current home of the group and wondered if it was going to be a somewhat peaceful evening. Doubtful, but one could still hope. It would be interesting to see if anyone was there at the moment and the small stream of smoke told that at least Kaede would more likely than not be home.

It should not be very difficult to get Shippo out of the small village undetected. Though the figure was instead more worried on how hard it would be to keep Shippo from trying to _return_ to the village.

It was unknown on just how **far** Inuyasha had actually run but knowing the full strength of a youkai, even when they only possessed half the blood, a youkai could run as far as he wanted as _fast_ as he wanted without breaking a sweat.

It wouldn't be at all surprising if Inuyasha had run to the ends of the earth.

 _Anything_ to get away from Kagome.

Sighing, the small figure soon reached the top of the small hill and smiled as well as the creature could smile at the sight of the small form that sat on the hut's front stoop.

Letting out a small yip of hello, the small animal darted up to the youkai child.

Shippo looked up at Kirara's greeting and smiled down at the small twin tailed Neko.

"Hello Kirara," the small kitsune greeted halfheartedly.

The small youkai looked up at the sad child and yipped again as she pushed her head under his small hand, begging for a pet.

Smiling a little, the kit obliged stroking her behind the ear, "are you lonely too?"

Kirara whined softly and gave the child a quick lick for comfort. Shippo smiled at the little animal and gave her a firm scratch on the head.

A voice called out and Shippo looked up to see Miroku returning from his now daily search for Inuyasha. The monk had decided that if there was anyone who could figure out what was wrong with Kagome it had to be the hanyou.

Kirara nearly shook her head. ' _Humans can be so obtuse sometimes,_ ' she mused as she watched the human trudge up the hill. ' _It is clear that the child does not want to be found and when he doesn't want to be found there's no hide nor hair of him to be seen._ '

Miroku came over to them, obviously weary but still smiling.

"What's going on Shippo?" he asked.

The kit smiled up at him but still turned to frown at the empty road behind him. "Still nowhere to be seen?" he asked.

Miroku's face fell and he shook his head somberly.

"Well good riddance!" Shippo huffed. "We don't need that baka anyhow…"

Miroku frowned and knelt down and gave the small kit a hug.

"We'll find him," the monk whispered.

Shippo said nothing but leaned into the embrace before Miroku stood and giving the child a small smile went into the hut.

' _Brave human,_ ' Kirara thought as she turned an ear towards the building.

There was a sudden shout and the sound of something breaking from within the cottage followed by the humans trying to calm down the raging miko. ' _Brave, but stupid._ '

Shippo actually cringed and hunched his shoulders in an attempt to look even smaller than his already diminutive form.

"Why can't things just go back to normal?" Shippo asked sullenly as he pulled the small neko into his lap and buried his face in her soft fur. "Thing's just haven't been the same since the baka left," he continued.

Kirara silently agreed.

' _Things really_ are _terrible_ ,' the small neko youkai thought as she purred in an attempt to sooth the small kit. The sound of the fighting in the house grew worse and Kirara knew she had to make her move _now_.

The humans would be able to take care of themselves but she knew that Shippo, without an adult's guidance, was in a very bad situation that could lead to a world of hurt.

For whatever reasons, Inuyasha had left the only other person in his party with youkai blood behind and they very well may had been _good_ reasons. However, Kirara knew that without Inuyasha's very presence, that when she finally _did_ realize that Inuyasha was not going to return, that all hell would break loose.

She did not want the child there when it happened. And she knew that the only one who could protect him, not only from the prowling demons that followed Naraku but from Kagome herself, was Inuyasha.

Now all she had to do was _find_ the runaway pup.

Her mind made up, Kirara whined again before standing and jumping out of the small kit's lap.

Shippo looked up in curiosity as Kirara yipped at him and started jumping impatiently.

"What's wrong Kirara?" he asked as he jumped up from the stoop. "Is it Inuyasha? Do you know where he is?"

The little neko yipped again and turned to run down the hill.

Glancing back at the little hut anxiously, Shippo hesitated a moment before turning and following the small youkai down the hill.

Kirara occasionally slowed down to ensure that the kitsune was following her before she turned and darted into the woods.

Shippo huffed in annoyance and ran faster to catch up to small animal. "Kirara! Wait…" he huffed as he struggled over a fallen branch.

The cat paused and waited for the kit to catch up before shifting to her full form. Waiting for him to reach her, she knelt down to allow him to climb upon her back before she took off once more through the woods.

Shippo yelped in surprise as he grabbed the scruff of her neck as he dodged branches and tried to just hang on.

"Kirara! Where are we going?" he cried.

She huffed as she continued with her breakneck pace through the forest. It would be hard for her to track Inuyasha from the air; she had to stay on the ground if she would be able to track after his scent.

But it would be hard, even for her.

Kirara huffed as she tied find the lingering scent of Inuyasha as she searched the woods. The problem was, there were too many of his scent trails. It was only natural for a creature that spent almost every day in the solitude of the woods.

' _Couldn't he just walk a straight line…_ ' she huffed as she sniffed every small trace of the hanyou's scent. Finding one that led to a large tree she snorted in annoyance. ' _Better yet, couldn't he just stay on the_ ground?'

Growling in annoyance, she soon found a trail that led away from all the others and better still- led away from the village. Taking a chance that she had found the right one she turned and followed the lingering scent of the inu. With luck, it would be the right one and hopefully she could get the kit there before all hell broke loose.

Shippo just tied to hang on as she darted sporadically throughout the forest before determining a somewhat straight path and following it. He couldn't understand why it was that Kirara was determined to go looking for Inuyasha now. They had been searching for weeks now and with no results.

But he could not give up hope that they would find him- after all; Inuyasha wasn't at all very bright, how far could he have gone?

Shippo dug his little claws deeper into Kirara's pelt and held on as they ran through the woods. They would find Inuyasha. They had to.

He was the closest Shippo had to a friend.

To say that he saw the baka hanyou as a father figure or even a _brother_ , however, was just simply pushing it.


	20. Ghastly Habits

The silver figure sighed as he looked about the disorganized chaos of the cave.

Stuff had been strewed about _everywhere_.

There were abandoned dishware set aside at the oddest places, cloths had been dropped haphazardly around the "sleeping quarters" and there was that odd little puzzle known as a rubric cube half finished on the futon.

Scowling, he starting grabbing random items and managing to collect an arm full of bits and pieces he set out to find the culprits.

The little girl was actually very well organized, well as organized as a small child could be, but _him_! He scowled as he thought about his reluctant cave mate.

' _One would think someone his age would have better housekeeping skills…_ ' he thought in annoyance while he grabbed a random undershirt and frowned at the scent that radiated from the material.

Mentally making a note about laundry, he soon found one of the ne'er-do-wells and glared at the little girl.

Chastising her firmly and obtaining a regretful apology he handed her the few items she had disregarded and reminded her to start cleaning up after herself before moving on to find the mastermind behind the mess.

It took some time before he came upon the second silver creature that lived in the cave and with a dark look he threw the heap of cloths in the youkai's face.

Sesshoumaru glared as the offensive ball of fabric firmly slammed into his nose before sliding down to land in a silvery puddle at his feet.

"Do I look like one of your stupid servants?" Inuyasha demanded as he waved the foul smelling shirt about in the air. "What the hell do you think you're doing leaving all this crap around?"

Sesshoumaru stared at the hyperventilating hanyou and deftly removed the obi that hung randomly on his shoulder. "What _are_ you ranting about now?" he sneered.

Inuyasha just about decked him. "YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT I'M 'RANTING ABOUT' YOU PAMPERED BASTARD!" The shirt soon followed the fate of the others as it too smacked against Sesshoumaru's smirking visage following Inuyasha's tirade. "THIS MESS!" and he waved his hand in the general direction of the main cave. "This irritating clutter that just seems to trail after you everywhere! And will you _stop_ racking out the rushes! It's going to get even harder to replace them when the snow comes!"

Sesshoumaru scowled. "Why can't you just get mats?"

"The rushes work just _fine_!" Inuyasha hissed. "Always have, always will. I'm sorry if this cave is not to your liking, but if you hate it so YOU CAN VERY WELL MOVE OUT!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and leaned against one of the small crates of food where he had been napping/meditating when Inuyasha had stormed the back tunnel. "And leave you all by your lonesome?" he asked sarcastically.

"I would take ANYONE'S company over _you_!" Inuyasha snapped. "I can take care of myself! I've been doing it for centuries."

Sesshoumaru looked at the hanyou from toes to ear tips, never missing the scattering of twigs and leaves in the silver locks. "Yes, I can see how well you took care of yourself."

Inuyasha bristled. "I'm still alive, ain't I?"

"Hmm," Sesshoumaru hummed as he dropped the dirty shirt onto of the small pile. "That remains to be seen."

Inuyasha blushed under Sesshoumaru's unwavering gaze. He should have know that having Sesshoumaru there on a daily bases would be trouble.

It had almost been as if the cave had shrunk five times it's size since his elder brother had moved in and to say that it had been nerve wracking would have been a gross understatement.

The feeling of those piercing golden eyes on him almost every second of the day had nearly destroyed his nerves and Inuyasha had never been more grateful that Sesshoumaru had allowed the little girl to remain instead of sending her off with the toad imp.

Gathering food had never been quite such a chore either since the taller figure moved in.

For some strange reason, Sesshoumaru rarely-if ever- left the cave. Another strike against him in Inuyasha's opinion that proved just how lofty his royal highness could get. Sesshoumaru had been a royal pain in the ass since he had arrived.

However there was one question he needed answered. "Why are you so insistent about all this?" he asked. "Why did you move in? Why are you so stubborn about this whole…" he waved his hand's in a vague gesture, "this whole protecting me when I'm human, after years of completely denying my very existence? I've been wondering about it since you brought up this whole 'truce' thing after that rainy night!"

Inuyasha turned to look Sesshoumaru, one of his greatest enemy's in the eye as he asked, "What exactly do you want with me?"

There was a growl and Inuyasha's breath was knocked out of him as he was suddenly slammed against the wall. He gapped for any bit of air as he clawed at the wrist that Sesshoumaru pressed against his throat.

"Do not even think of questioning me, hanyou." Sesshoumaru leaned forward, his nose inches away from Inuyasha's own. "You want to know what I want with you?"

Any thought about regaining his breath left him as Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock and they stared into the narrowed ones of Sesshoumaru. He could feel the youkai's hot breath brush gently against his cheek.

That feeling was back. That stupid little feeling that came up from his toes and slammed into his gut as Sesshoumaru leaned those last few inches to whisper in a triangle ear…

"That is for me to know…"

Inuyasha felt all the tension just drain out of his body as he stared at Sesshoumaru's smirking face in complete disbelief. Narrowing his eyes, he struggled for a while until Sesshoumaru finally dropped him, his point made and the hanyou took deep lungful of air rubbing his sore neck in an attempt to sooth his injured throat.

He turned hate filled eyes upward and glared at the regal figure that towered above him

Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha chest heaved with the force of his gasps for breath and the smooth curve of the hanyou's shoulders shook with the exertion. For some damn reason the youkai couldn't turn his eyes away.

"Are you finished with your questions?" he asked casually as he once more leaned against the crates.

Inuyasha huffed and blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Not really, but for the moment it's all I can think of," he growled as he turned to leave the small storage tunnel where Sesshoumaru had been meditating… or rather hiding. "If you're going to kill me then do it," he called over his shoulder, "as it stands- I have better things to do."

If this was how it was going to be on day five, Inuyasha shuddered to think how the rest of the winter season was going to go.

He had to get Sesshoumaru out of his hair and more importantly, _out of the cave_!

Inuyasha had demanded multiple times for an explanation of Sesshoumaru's sudden announcement that he would be moving in and as yet Sesshoumaru had refused to divulge any information on the subject.

' _Irritating prick_!' Inuyasha thought angrily. ' _What in the world was he talking about his_ " _instincts_ "? _He probably made that up, the jerk._ '

Inuyasha growled as he entered the main cavern his eyes immediately going to the small corner where Kuufuku was gnawing on yet another piece of elaborate silk. A small smile came to his lips before he wandered over and gently tried to pull the obi from the rat.

"Come on. You already have three whole outfits and I have to do wash soon," Inuyasha huffed as he gave a short tug.

Kuufuku actually let out a small rat growl and pulled back at the cloth. Sighing, Inuyasha pulled back and soon there was a comical little fight of tug-of-war over the obi. "Will you let go already?" he whispered. "His royal highness…" and he rolled his eyes at this, "is already in a cranky mood…"

"Youkai are never 'cranky'," the smooth voice came flowed over him. "We are 'avid'."

Letting out an exasperated breath, Inuyasha finally managed to claim the obi as the rat scuttled into his own hole. Without turning around, he started gathering different articles of clothing and set them into a pile in one corner before starting to collect dishes and setting them in on the table.

Glancing around he then begin to collect the small toys and other knick-knacks and set them on top of the futon next to the colorful cube.

Never once looking at the taller man.

He did not speak a single word.

He could practically _feel_ the anger radiating off the youkai.

Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk as he moved about cleaning the cave as best he could while living with two slobs. Hell, they couldn't even keep their garbage in sensible clutter.

There was a soft rustle as Sesshoumaru made his way into the cave and Inuyasha immediately tensed, his ears swiveling automatically to follow the soft sound of the youkai's footsteps.

Forcing himself to relax, he continued to separate the different messes and pointedly ignored his brother.

So when there was a soft thud, Inuyasha turned in surprise to see Sesshoumaru dropping the armful of cloths onto the small pile.

Inuyasha watched as Sesshoumaru jerked up his nose, turned, and marched back into the tunnel.

The hanyou stared at the retreating form in shock. Sesshoumaru hadn't said anything back. That was not what he had been expecting. A huff, a sneer, and insulting word or two to be sure… but for Sesshoumaru to say nothing and to just calmly leave. ' _Perhaps I was too hard on him,_ ' he wondered briefly before quickly quashing any such notion.

' _Like hell I am_ ,' he argued with himself as he furiously started grabbing all the clothing and shoving them in the wicker basket he had obtained. ' _It was his choice to live out here in the wilderness as appose to his plushy castle_. _Why the hell should I feel sorry for the bastard_?'

Quickly double checking that there was nothing left, Inuyasha strode out of the cave and into the bright afternoon sunshine.

"Konichiwa, Inuyasha-Sama!" Rin called from where she was playing with some pebbles making odd designs in the sand.

Inuyasha nodded at her as he made his way into the woods. Turning south, he made his way to the small pond that he had found on his now daily food gathering hunts. Slowly making his way down the embankment he neared the waters edge and unceremoniously dumped the clothing into the water.

Removing his outer robe, Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and set to work doing laundry. It was a nice, mindless task…

…If only his brain would cooperate and stop thinking.

For some reason, his brother's attitude the past few days had been nothing short of irritating. He had been either ignoring his half brother completely or driving him to the point of insanity with his constant bickering.

' _Honestly_ , _it's not like I_ wanted _him to live with me_ ,' Inuyasha huffed as he methodically beat the clothing against a nearby bolder and scrubbed them together with the small amount of soap he had snitched from the human village.

' _And I wish he would stop_ STARING _at me_!' he quickly finished rinsing the cloths and started to lay them out on the scattered rocks to dry. ' _I mean it's not like I'm in my human form or anything_.'

He leaned back against the grass and watched as the darkening clouds rolled by. "Rain soon…" he muttered as he watched the sky allowing his mind to simply slow down for the better part of an hour.

' _It's not like he's never seen me before._ ' Inuyasha continued his mental evaluation as he took a lock of his hair and held it in front of his eyes, ' _I'm nothing special_. _It's not as if I look_ completely _different_ …'

A squirrel darted out of the trees and Inuyasha swiveled and ear to track its movements. ' _Well, with a few minor differences,_ ' he chuckled as he started to gather up the laundry and headed back to the cave.

Placing the clothing in the small trunk by the futons, Inuyasha handed Rin her own clean clothing to put away in her own small basket and started separating his own clothing from his brothers, frowning at the cloths as he immediately saw the difference between Sesshoumaru's finer material and his own dilapidated attire.

A pale arm entered his line of vision from behind as Sesshoumaru snatched up his robes from Inuyasha's sight.

"INUYASHA!" the enraged bellow soon came from behind him. "What did you do to my things?"

Inuyasha turned to see Sesshoumaru holing up his still damp robes (kimonos? Yukatas?) and rolled his eyes. "I washed them, obviously," Inuyasha announced as he continued putting away the last few articles of clothing.

There was a growl. "Washed them, _where_?" Sesshoumaru snarled out the question.

Inuyasha turned with a puzzled look at the fuss the youkai was making, all over some stupid clothes. "Does it matter where?" he asked tiredly. He still had dinner to make and there was the cleaning to finish.

"Just answer the question…" Sesshoumaru barked.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as he closed the lid of the trunk and set the basket aside. "There's a small pond not far from here," he announced. "Where did you think I was fetching the water from? Thin air?" He asked sarcastically.

"A pond?" Sesshoumaru gapped disbelieving. "You washed my _silk_ clothes in **cold** water?" he screeched. "You didn't heat it or _anything_?" Rin giggled slightly but quickly clamped a hand over her mouth as she watched the two, demon brothers argue. "They're _ruined_!" Sesshoumaru continued as he slammed the clothing to the ground. "Completely destroyed!"

The hanyou sighed and looked at the raging demon. "You have to be exaggerating. They can't be _completely_ un-useable."

Sesshoumaru bent down and with an exaggerated flick of the wrist held out one of the robes from shoulder height. Inuyasha suppressed a smirk as he saw the hem now a good half a foot shorter than it had been. Sesshoumaru scowled, "and what, may I ask, can I do with them?"

Inuyasha shrugged as he made his way towards the back of the cave to gather ingredients for dinner.

"Give them to the rat," he suggested as he slipped into the tunnel, leaving an enraged bellow and a grateful squeak behind him.


	21. Now What?

Sesshoumaru was agitated.

This feeling only moved to infuriate the Youkai Lord even more as Inu Youkai were _never_ agitated. ' _It all comes down to the irritating hanyou_!' Sesshoumaru thought as he stared at the figure in red as Inuyasha moved about the cave while he made dinner.

Sesshoumaru suppressed a growl. ' _Irritating hanyou,_ ' he thought again as he sat down at the table and proceeded to meditate…

Or at least, he tried to meditate.

Every time he managed to clear his mind, he heard Inuyasha move and before he could even think about it, his eyes would snap open and immediately move to the smaller youkai.

It was really starting to piss him off. Inuyasha only had to do the slightest twitches; the smallest of movement and Sesshoumaru was immediately compelled to watch it. To follow it. To file the small motion away for later reference in the now growing file that was Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru finally did growl softly. ' _Fucking hanyou_!'

Rin, playing in the corner, with her human hearing could not hear the soft noise that emitted from his throat but Inuyasha did.

The right koinu ear swiveled towards him and Inuyasha turned to look questioningly at his older brother over his shoulder, the right eyebrow lifting displaying Inuyasha's inquisitive look number three; the one where he was simply curious but not overly so.

In Sesshoumaru's opinion, "inquisitive look number three" was much better than number four. The inquisitive but hostile "what the fuck's wrong with you?" look.

Sesshoumaru had never wanted to bang his head against a table so hard in his life.

He was going INSANE!

For the past five days all he could think about was his brother and the odd feeling accompanying the thoughts of his brother. He wondered once more why it was that there was this stupid feeling. That odd little notion that told him, no, _demanded_ that he **had** to protect the hanyou.

From what, he had no idea but he knew he had to protect him.

Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose as a pungent smell reached his nose. ' _If only from himself_ ,' he concluded as Inuyasha made his way over and called Rin to dinner.

If it could be said that Sesshoumaru was agitated, then it could be said that Inuyasha was anxious. And the cause of the feeling was right across the cave staring at him as he did the dishes.

Sesshoumaru had said nothing when Inuyasha returned from the back of the cave and began making dinner. He said nothing when dinner was finished and everyone settled down to start eating. He didn't even utter one word when dinner was finished and Inuyasha teasingly said that it was his turn to do the dishes… although he did send his brother a withering glare.

Sesshoumaru had not said one word since the argument about the laundry. After the meal, he had moved to one side of the cave and sat down with all the grace and arrogance of the lord he was all with out uttering a single word.

And the silence was really starting to freak Inuyasha out. It didn't help that Sesshoumaru was staring at him- _again_. Everywhere he went, he could feel the golden eyes staring at his back as he moved about.

Inuyasha was they type of person who could barely sit still as it was but with the added tension he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

He was tempted to snap at the taller youkai, yell at him for being an idiot or perhaps try and provoke a good fight. It was a very pleasing idea but one Inuyasha regretfully set aside. ' _If we fight in here it's more than likely everything would get trashed_ ,' Inuyasha thought as he looked about the cave.

However, this thought did nothing to quell his anxiety nor did it solve the problem of Sesshoumaru staring at him. Huffing in annoyance, Inuyasha moved towards the sleeping area and started messing about with the blankets.

' _I blame the new moon…_ ' Inuyasha thought irritably as he unmade and remade Rin's futons several times. ' _It's nearly a week away_ ,' he thought as he tucked in a corner, ' _I'll blame that._ '

Sighing, he sat back at stared at the perfectly made bed before moving a few feet down towards his own and undertook the task of remaking that one. He didn't dare go near Sesshoumaru's, which was on the other side of Rin. For one thing, he was unsure that the small black bugs he saw there were fleas or not. For another, Sesshoumaru would kill him.

He groaned as he finished his third round of making the bed, ' _I hate my life_.'

Glancing at the entrance to the cave to gage the lateness of the evening, he called to Rin and spent the next hour trying to distracted himself with the task of putting the little girl to sleep. Three stories and a still very perky girl later, Inuyasha had almost forgotten about Sesshoumaru's staring… almost.

For his part Sesshoumaru was actually slightly amused at Inuyasha's attempt to put the child to sleep.

It was actually a rather peaceful moment.

Looking about the cave, one would almost think that it was a serene picture with your typical family. The master of the … er … cave… was relaxing after dinner while the "wife", being a overaggressive hanyou, was settling down the child. The "child" being a once killed now resurrected… ' _is she a zombie now or what?_ ' Sesshoumaru wondered absently.

There was even a… pet… sort of… in the rat Kuufuku. Sesshoumaru snorted as he glanced around for the small fur ball of doom…

…And eyes widened in complete and utter shock and disgust at the sight of the diseased ridden ball of fuzz curled up on _his_ **pillow**!

The teacup had never before flown with such frightening accuracy across the cave as Sesshoumaru hurled the cup at his own bed. With a rather loud squeak (that sounded to the youkai like a taunting laugh) the rat quickly scuttled away from the deadly ceramic and quickly made his way to the other side where both Inuyasha _and_ Rin were watching him with rather amused looks.

Sesshoumaru scowled and narrowed his eyes at them before they turned their attention back to… well, whatever the hell it was that they were doing.

' _Oh god, I'm actually losing it,_ ' Sesshoumaru moaned quietly. ' _The hanyou had done it. He has actually gone and done it. He's driven me insane. Any and all rational thought has actually gotten up and flew away for the year…_ '

Sesshoumaru huffed as he rose to his feet and made his way to the back of the cave and the solitude of the tunnel. ' _One can only hope it returns in the spring…_ '

Growling in utter disgust, he stomped back to Inuyasha's storage cave and hefted himself up on the crate he had been sitting on earlier. The entire week has been driving him crazy. He actually wondered what it was that possessed him to actually even _suggest_ staying with his brother for the whole of the winter season.

' _This is insane,_ ' he mentally cursed at himself. ' _Jaken was right. This whole thing with Inuyasha is unhealthy._ '

Sesshoumaru huffed and closed his eyes as he tried to get his jumbled thoughts into some semblance of order.

To start with, there was the discovery of Inuyasha as a human. Right there he should have been thrilled with the knowledge of the cursed hanyou's weakness. Instead, he suddenly felt the compelling urge to ensure the hanyou's safety. In doing so, he forced his brother into a truce where ever month, he would protect his now human brother during the nights of the new moon.

Sesshoumaru rationalized this argument with the re-enforced notion that it was because he did not want anyone else to kill his half brother, instead holding onto that privilege for himself. However, the simple fact that Sesshoumaru wanted the privilege of killing Inuyasha himself did not explain the current situation. The discovery that Inuyasha was living on his own and no longer with the dratted humans should have had absolutely no effect on Sesshoumaru one way or the other.

As Inuyasha had argued more than once in a very determined tone, he had survived by himself for decades and he was not yet even a full grown hanyou! But when he realized that Inuyasha had once again taken to the wilds by himself, some part deep inside Sesshoumaru practically shot up in alarm at the mere notion. ' _Why did this ridicules urge to watch over Inuyasha increase almost a hundred fold when I found out that he was by himself_?' Sesshoumaru wondered in annoyance. ' _The last thing I need is some fraternal feelings creeping up on me._ '

"Sesshoumaru?"

' _Oh Kami, now what._ ' Sesshoumaru cracked an eye open and glared at the intruder. "What do you want?"

Inuyasha visibly bristled. "Well excuse me for wondering what the fuck's wrong with you. I have to live with you, ya know. It could help if I knew what the fuck went on in that 'regal' brain of yours."

' _You and me both,_ ' Sesshoumaru huffed. "Why do you insist on bothering my solitude today? Is it not enough that you practically destroyed my cloths today? Is there anything more of mine that you can annihilate with your incompetence?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You destroyed my life. Can you blame me for wanting to get something back?" he asked sarcastically.

Sesshoumaru scowled. "I did not 'destroy' you life hanyou. You're still breathing, are you not?"

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Inuyasha shouted as he stormed towards the seated youkai. "Here I am actually somewhat _worried_ about your huffy ass and for once, it's you who just wants to start a fight!"

Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat as he surged forward and grabbed the hanyou by the color of his fire rat robe, slamming him against the wall as he glared at the snarling koinu.

"Sesshoumaru! Kisama! What is with you and walls? Put me down you bastard!" Inuyasha yelped as he immediately started struggling against the iron grip.

"Shut up!" Sesshoumaru snapped. He shook Inuyasha as he tired to push the raging emotions down in to a tiny lockbox in the back of his mind. "Just," he growled. "Just shut up."

And wonder or wonders, Inuyasha did.

They stood there, both their chests heaving as they fought for breath.

Inuyasha's eyes watching as Sesshoumaru sucked in air through clenched jaws. His brother's face was almost directly next to him. He could actually see a small bead of sweat as it rolled down the youkai's temple down the slender jaw line. His silver hair was frazzled and small strands were plastered to his perspiring brow.

Inuyasha's breathing hitched slightly. Was it possible that there was something more going on than what he had originally thought? Sesshoumaru seemed very upset.

And if Sesshoumaru was upset, then in normal speak Inuyasha should be absolutely terrified.

Inuyasha swallowed heavily and tried to calm his breathing but the very thought of something that frightened the lord of the west to this level of panic only succeeded in causing his short gasps to speed up rapidly, until he was near hyperventilating. His shoulders were trembling with the force and he knew his eyes were as wide as they could go as they stared up at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru to one look at the distressed hanyou and nearly groaned at the picture his brother presented.

It was a desperate, wild look as he stared up at the taller youkai above him. It was a look of almost fearful helplessness that surge the need to protect this creature to the forefront of Sesshoumaru's mind.

The glassy sheen to Inuyasha's golden eyes, the flush across his cheeks…Hell even his ears were shaking and Sesshoumaru found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight.

The two points were trembling on top of the hanyou's head, swiveling sporadically as Inuyasha tried to calm down. Sesshoumaru's eyes remained riveted on the two fuzzy triangles and he leaned forward those extra few inches towards the odd appendages.

He gently exhaled against the closest one and the reaction was immediate.

Inuyasha had completely stopped trembling, his body instead going ramrod straight as his eyelids fluttered closed. The ears that had been the youkai's sole focus twisted to lay parallel against the floor away from the attacking air.

This time, Sesshoumaru couldn't even hold back the moan that rose to his throat.

Inuyasha's eyes instantly opened as he looked up at Sesshomaru with a puzzled frown. Sesshoumaru's own wide, shocked eyes looked back down at the confused hanyou as he practically dropped the younger youkai. ' _Oh god! Oh_ Kami-Sama **NO**!' Sesshoumaru's mind wailed as his brain finally caught up with what it was that his youki had been telling him- had been _screaming_ at him, for the last few months.

The grand Youkai Lord stared at the smaller figure in complete and utter amazement. Sesshoumaru knew that there had to be something wrong. There was no possible way that his notion was right. There had to have been something wrong! The conclusion he had arrived at was the result of a wrong turn somewhere in his frazzled mind.

Inuyasha stared up as Sesshoumaru shook his head as if to disagree with something and the hanyou could almost hear the small word "no" repeating over and over under the youkai's breath. He frowned as some part of him suddenly felt the urge to comfort the distressed youkai and he tentatively took a step forward toward the other male, one arm stretched out as if to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Sesshoumaru actually reared back at the offered hand, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh God…" he groaned as he stared at the now very worried and anxious visage of his brother.

"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha finally asked. "What is-"

He got no further than that as the Great Inu Youkai; the Lord of the West and all around levelheaded youkai turned and completely fled the small antechamber.

Staring in complete shock, Inuyasha gapped at where Sesshoumaru had been standing before he finally managed to gain enough awareness to actually follow the youkai out of the antechamber.

One way or the other, Inuyasha was determined to get some answers but he was too late. When he arrived at the main cave he discovered only the still sleeping girl and one small rat staring out at the entrance to the cave with a perplexing look.

Sesshoumaru was gone.

Inuyasha had to wonder if he would ever bother coming back.


	22. A Mislaid Miscreant

' _Oh fuck_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_! _No_!'

This was the ongoing mantra of one very shocked and very confused youkai as he ran through the forest as if the minions of Naraku were on his tail.

' _What the_ _HELL is wrong with me_ …' Sesshoumaru thought frantically as he dodged around a tree. ' _Better yet, what the_ fuck's _wrong with my damn youki?_ '

In his hysterical state, Sesshoumaru continued on his path and jumped a bush that blocked him. It was not a very large bush. More like overgrown underbrush that wasn't even very wide. He could have just as easily gone around the bush, but in Sesshoumaru's frazzled mind, to actually take the time to go _around_ the bush would require too much thought and so Sesshoumaru continued in his straight line towards the horizon and jumped the bush.

Much to the annoyance of the family of rabbits who lived there.

' _There has got to be a better explanation_!' Sesshoumaru thought desperately. ' _There could be no possible way that my youki is… is… oh Kami, I can't even_ think _it_!'

Sesshoumaru shook his head as he continued onward, dodging trees, jumping bushes and the occasional animal the couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

Even the herd of deer that had tortured Inuyasha all those weeks ago looked on in complete confusion as the white blur speed past the feeding ground.

The last of Sesshoumaru's un-chewed robes were torn as he ran through the forest- branches tearing at his clothing. There was a trail of torn silver hairs followed in Sesshoumaru's wake as the outreaching branches caught his long silver hair and torn from his body.

All in all, Sesshoumaru was a complete and total mess. It was a state that the youkai lord would _never_ allow _anyone_ to see him in, let alone **allow** his appearance to become so disheveled as it was now.

None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was the absurd conclusion he had arrived at when he was staring at those ridiculous, little triangle ears that sat upon his brother's head.

' _I have gone insane,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought as he ran. ' _There is no other possible explanation other than that I have gone completely and utterly crazy…_ '

Sesshoumaru ran.

It was the only think he could think of doing in his confused state. The little corner of his mind that was a creatures thought of self preservation chanted at him, "run away. Run away."

And so Sesshoumaru did.

He ran through the forest away from the cave and it's homey like feeling. Away from the damn rat that was a constant curse to his life, not that Sesshoumaru regretted running away from the rat, the thing was fucking scary but still it was a blow to his pride.

But most importantly, he ran from Inuyasha. From the damn feeling that the hanyou was invoking within the deep little corner of his mind. From the damn urge to protect the dratted boy and the frightening conclusions that the Daiyoukai had reached.

Sesshoumaru ran until he could run no more.

The end to the youkai's flight was not that his had reached his limit. It was not the panting, gasping breath that told Sesshoumaru that he had reached the end, nor was it his aching feet that compelled him to stop.

It was more the fact that there was simply nowhere else for him to go.

Sesshoumaru coughed and sputtered as he tried to climb somewhat upright and glared at the fish that had dared to come investigated the creature that had invaded their home. Growling, Sesshoumaru gathered as much dignity that he could muster, pulled the piece of seaweed out of his hair, turned and trudged out of the lake that he had… run into.

Collapsing onto the small beach, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to finally catch his breath as he watched the stars shin above him.

' _It could not be possible_ ,' Sesshoumaru thought. ' _It's a completely and utterly insane notion that_ my _youki is considering that brat of a hanyou as a… as a…_ '

Sesshoumaru huffed as he sat up and started to wring out as much water as he could from his cloths, scowling at the multitude of tears in the fabric. ' _He's still a damn koinu_!' he rationalized. ' _Not even five hundred years old. A fucking_ baby!'

Standing, he removed the outer layer of his robe and setting it out to dry he sat back down on the soft sand and continued his internal monologue. ' _There's no possible reason for my youki to be reacting in this fashion_ ,' he thought as he stared at the waning moon.

' _The moon_!' Sesshoumaru stared at the large glowing orb with a start. ' _Fuck_! _When the hell do humans mature again_? _Does that even make a difference with Inuyasha_?'

"Fuck," Sesshoumaru growled as he rubbed his temples. "I hate my life."

Sighing, he sat back and allowed his thought to try and convey into some semblance of order. The stars were actually quite nice in the winter months. Sesshoumaru wondered if it had to do with the tilt of the earth or if was just a fact that the sky was clearer in winter.

' _And now I'm just ignoring the subject,_ ' Sesshoumaru criticized himself as he thought back to the situation at hand. ' _There is no possible way that my youki sees Inuyasha as a…_ ' Sesshoumaru swallowed heavily before plunging on, ' _as a…mate…_ '

Sesshoumaru immediately shook his head and felt his face contort into a rather putrid look. "Oh Kami, what the hell is happening?"

The stars had no reply.

' _Okay, calm down Sesshoumaru. You can look at this rationally…_ ' he told himself.

Doing some quick meditating breathing before continuing. ' _My youki is reacting to Inuyasha. It is responding as if it has declared him as a mate._ ' Sesshoumaru could not help but roll his eyes at the thought. ' _However, Inuyasha is still too young to have come into his first heat. Therefore, what the fuck is my youki thinking…_ '

He frowned. ' _Then there is the fact that my youki has never before reacted to the hanyou until the day when I first came across Inuyasha as a human. As I have no interest in humans, I do not know when it is that they mature._ '

Sesshoumaru idly wondered if he could obtain the information from Jaken or if he would have to find another source.

Growling again Sesshoumaru continued his furious debate between bouts of dozing and stargazing.

It was a few hours later when the sun was just coming over the horizon that it finally hit him. The surrounding finally made their way into the youkai's confused mind and registered there.

"Oh crap!" he shouted as he sat bolt upright at stared at the forest and gleaming lake before him.

Jumping to his feet he turned a complete one hundred and eighty degrees as he searched for anything familiar. "I left the cave!"

Sesshoumaru gapped a few moments before falling backwards onto the sand.

"I am so dead."

And a few miles away, a very fuming hanyou agreed with him.

Inuyasha's scowled as he looked about the cave for one very absent youkai. ' _Okay, one crazy rat…_ ' he looked at the small bundle of Sesshoumaru's discarded clothes and the sleeping rat therein. ' _Check. One tiny human girl…_ ' a rather loud snore penetrated the cool morning air. ' _…With very powerful lungs; check._ _One cranky youkai who thinks he's God…_ ' He looked about the cave for any sign of silver.

"Hello…" he called out softly, "calling for one cranky youkai lord who insists on disrupting my life… come out, come out where ever you are…"

Only the loud snores now accompanied by some soft wheezing answered him.

"Where the hell is he?" he muttered as he moved towards about the main cavers silently as to not awake the snoozing girl and the snoring rat.

Ensuring that Sesshoumaru was nowhere about the cavern, Inuyasha turned to inspect the long tunnel and the antechambers there. "Didn't that prick come back last night?" he huffed as he made his way outside and glanced about the forest as if his brother would suddenly jump out from behind a bush and shout "boo" at him.

Sighing, he moved away from the cave to a small clearing with a makeshift paddock where Sesshoumaru's flying… thing was patiently waiting for food.

Smiling, Inuyasha got some food for the (dragon?) from the small shed he managed to create. After ensuring that the creature was satisfied with his meal and there was enough water, Inuyasha once more scanned the tree line for the missing youkai before huffing.

"Keh, irritating prick." Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he made his way back into the cave. ' _There was defiantly something wrong with that jerk last night_ ,' he thought as he went about starting the fire. ' _He was acting so strange…_ " He paused, ' _well stranger_.'

Checking on the sleeping occupants of the cave once more, the hanyou sat back and just enjoyed the quiet of the morning as he thought things over.

' _Okay,_ ' he thought. ' _Let's start at the beginning. Sesshoumaru saves my hide, correction, my_ human _hide from a group of Lesser Demons._ ' Inuyasha shook his head. ' _Right there, we are descending into that_ " _Twilight_ " _place_.'

' _Point two, he saves my butt and doesn't leave me… Hell he took_ CARE _of me…_ '

Inuyasha bolted upright. "Of course, it's a imposter!"

Rin mumbled and Inuyasha froze as the girl rolled over and promptly went to sleep.

' _Okay, stupid idea,_ ' he thought as he rationalized that at least Jaken would have noticed something wrong. Then he thought about it. ' _Or not_ … _Moving on_ ,' he threw another log onto the building fire. ' _Next morning he insists we form a truce,_ ' he shuddered. _'Even scarier is I agreed._ '

Inuyasha paused and thought about it in a little more detail.

' _Well, times are most defiantly more dangerous than before my time on the tree what with Naraku involved now. So the fact that I would be in even more danger when I'm in human form, but why the hell would Sesshoumaru care_?'

Sighing, he shifted a little away from the fire as the cave gradually became warmer.

' _Next is the very odd cave that is warded against youkai's. Only I can get through it and only then when I'm human._ '

Inuyasha glanced at the sleeping girl. ' _Mental note, see if Rin can get through the wards,_ ' he thought absently.

' _Continuing on; after discovering that I had moved away from the human village, instead of applauding me for finally severing any and all ties with the humans, he completely freaks out and forces his way into moving in with me.'_

He looked over at the extra futon and the vacancy there. ' _And then does_ absolutely _nothing_!' he growled. ' _He just sits around the cave and… stares at me._ '

Inuyasha shuddered. ' _What is up with the damn staring_?' he questioned. ' _He's been doing it since he saw me as a human._ ' He puzzled for a moment.

' _What made yesterday so different though_?' he wondered. ' _Nothing really out of the ordinary happened_.'

He mentally went over the day's events. ' _Made breakfast, Sesshoumaru ignored me. Feed Un and An, Sesshoumaru ignored me. Cleaned the cave, Sesshoumaru ignored me. Made lunch, Sesshoumaru ignored me. All in all, except for the fight about him actually_ cleaning up after himself _he generally ignored me.'_

"Feh, right…" he sighed. "So what the hell set him off?"

He thought back to the few heated words before Sesshoumaru ran out of the cave.

' _He was uptight about something, even more than normal. So what the hell could get him so nervous_?'

Inuyasha briefly thought back to the moments before Sesshoumaru's "great bolt" as he thought of it.

' _It has to do with me, but what the fuck did_ I _do_?' he wondered. ' _I haven't done anything to him lately. In fact,_ ' he thought, ' _it's mostly been_ him _acting all odd and picking fights.'_

Inuyasha frowned as the image of Sesshoumaru's look of absolute horror as he stared down at him. Inuyasha had never seen such a look of fear on his brother in all his life. It made the hanyou immediately want to reach out for the youkai, to console him, to comfort him and ensure that the regal visage never held such a look again.

It was another dratted feeling that Sesshoumaru created with in him that Inuyasha had never before felt in his life. It was so odd.

Ever since he stumbled across his brother while he was human, the most bizarre feelings had been creeping up with in him. Feelings that he had no names for but for some reason made him embarrassed and, feh, _nervous_ around Sesshoumaru.

It was getting rather irritating.

Groaning, he leaned back and gently banged his head against the wall, "I hate thinking," he moaned aloud before finally rising to his feet. Glancing out the entrance Inuyasha decided that it was about time to begin breakfast since the second person in the cave would be waking soon.

Plucking two eggs from a small basket, Inuyasha went about making something called an "omelet". He smirked as he shifted the skillet over the fire, "the one thing Kagome got right."

"Got what right?" a soft voice called from across the cave.

Inuyasha turned and smiled at the blearily eyed girl as she made her way over towards the table.

"Good morning," Inuyasha smiled as she sat down and dished out a plate of the warm yellow fluff.

"Good morning," she smiled back as she began eating, but her eyes were darting around the cave obviously looking for something… or someone.

Inuyasha sighed as he turned to look at the girl head on. "Um, Rin…" the girl turned huge eyes on him and Inuyasha sweat dropped. He cleared his throat and started again. "Rin, I'm sorry but it seems that Sesshoumaru has gone out for… a while."

He shifted uncomfortably as the girl never took her eyes off him. "Um, I'm not sure when he'll come back or…"

"It will be a while," Rin announced and went back to her eggs.

Inuyasha face vaulted. "Nani?"

Rin swallowed politely before continuing. "Sesshoumaru-sama sometimes leaves for a while before coming back," she announced in a matter of fact voice. "Rin asked Sesshoumaru-sama once and Sesshoumaru-sama said he goes to clear his head."

And with that rather pointed announcement, Rin finished her eggs, cleaned her pate and asked Inuyasha if she could go out to play.

Inuyasha gave her a rather dazed nod before coming back to himself. "Don't wander far from the cave!" he called after her.

Sighing, he turned to the rat who had gone on to his own breakfast. "I don't suppose you're all that upset that Sesshoumaru's gone."

Kuufuku actually gave a mournful squeak he continued to slowly devour one of the pilfered robes.

Inuyasha smiled softly as he started cleaning up after breakfast and started his own.

"You and me both."


	23. Finding Friends

Kirara was completely exhausted.

Tracking had never before been so difficult in her life. Who knew that hunting down _one_ hanyou would be so complicated? It was almost as if she was going in circles!

She couldn't blame the hanyou for leaving but her nose felt as if it would fall off.

She had to hand it to Inuyasha though; he certainly knew what he was doing to ensure his survival. There were so many false trails that there were moments that even _her_ nose got confused. And so it was without a doubt that if she were having problems, then anyone _else_ who dared try hunting down the half inu would definitely have it worse off that she did.

"Kirara, are we there yet?"

' _Of course, any one else who would be tracking Inuyasha would probably not be caring for a young youko,_ ' she thought indignantly.

The neko rolled her eyes as she sniffed at another promising trail. ' _Two days… two days of nothing but circling and crisscrossing and back tracking…_ ' she growled to herself. ' _Just where the hell did he run too_?'

"Kirara. I'm hungry…" Shippo wined softly.

The neko cooed in reply and firmed her resolve. She _had_ to find Inuyasha and it had to be today. Any longer and she would be forced to take the little youkai back to the village.

She was actually surprised that the kit had lasted as long as he had. Not so much complaining and his youki sustained him but Shippo was still just a baby so lasting two days was an accomplishment for him.

Following the smells as best she could, Kirara continued forward praying that she would find Inuyasha soon, if only for the kit's sake.

Shippo, for his part, was all for turning back around to the village.

They had been searching for Inuyasha for _days_ now and there had been no sign of the baka. He could understand that the neko youkai was missing the hanyou, but perhaps they should have gone with the others during their searches, rather than going out on their own.

They had to hide on a few different occasions when they came across some youkai's but other than that, there had been almost no one in the whole of the forest.

"Kirara, can we go back now?" he asked softly as he wrung his hands to try and obtain some feeling back into them.

Riding Kirara when she was in her larger form was always fun before but at that moment in time all Shippo wanted was _off_!

Kirara once again made a soothing noise before taking off at full tilt causing Shippo to lunge for her scruff and hold on for dear life. "Kirara!" the kit shouted. "Warn me before you do that!"

The large neko youkai yelped once in acknowledgement but never once slowed down her speed.

"Kirara!" he shouted but gave it up for a loss. Kirara was certainly determined to find Inuyasha. Though why anyone would be worried for that stupid jerk of a youkai was anyone's guess.

Kirara knew that he hectic run was upsetting the kitsune, but at that moment she was too happy to really care what the child thought. She had found it! She had finally; finally found a main scent that had to be at least a week old and re-enforced with Inuyasha's repetitive use of the path.

She had just come to a small pond when she was forced to slam herself into a halt, her paws dragging through the dirt leaving skid trails in her wake. Shippo took a breath to ask what it was when she whirled and managing to get the kit by the scruff of his shirt, she threw him into a small bush before shifting to her smaller form and joined him.

Shippo cast her a confused look but thankfully said nothing. Kirara licked the boy's small hand approvingly as she lifted her nose to the air. It was actually surprising that the child could not smell the scent that was drifting on the winds.

' _Perhaps the boy_ is _spending to much time with humans,_ ' she thought briefly before turning her attention to the problem at hand.

They watched, turning their gazes towards the other side of the pond as a soft rustle sounded and a head of silver suddenly emerged from the thick foliage.

Shippo's face lit up in a smile and he rose as if to run and greet the figure.

It was only Kirara's little razor sharp teeth digging into his tail that held him back and Shippo turned to glare at the little cat before once more turning towards the figure.

He promptly dropped back down and burrowed himself as deep in the foliage underbrush as he could as the figure came completely into view.

There stood the Great Taiyoukai of the West in all his glory glaring at the pond as if it were his greatest enemy.

"Damn it!" Sesshoumaru muttered. "What the hell is with me and water this week?"

The two hidden beings dared not make a sound as they watched the tall form of Inuyasha's brother move around the lake; each step brining him closer to their position.

Kirara sent the gods a prayer that the wind stayed true and kept their sent from reaching the youkai lord.

It was with bated breath and tense moments before the other youkai finally left the small pond area and continued on his way through the forest.

Shippo let out a sigh of relief as the figure disappeared but Kirara did not let her guard down until she was completely sure that Sesshoumaru was well and truly gone.

' _Well_ ,' she thought in surprise. ' _That explains the_ other _scent that I was continually coming across._ '

Shaking her head, she quickly moved out of the impromptu hiding spot and shifted back inter her full form quickly knelt down for Shippo to climb aboard. For once, Shippo didn't stop to complain as he scrambled up onto her back and clung for dear life.

Kirara turned around purposefully in the opposite direction that Sesshoumaru had gone and quickly made her way as far from the creature as she could.

It was about half an hour before they finally came across another living creature, and one with a very odd scent. Even Shippo stopped to stare at the creature.

"Kirara, is it me…" Shippo started speaking very slowly, "or does that rat smell like Inuyasha?"

Kirara, meanwhile, was in shock. Aside from the hanyou, she could also almost smell the fait scent of the very youkai that they had left at the pond. ' _What the?_ ' she stared at the rat.

The rat darted around for a time before turning and started to walk away from the bewildered duo. Kirara paused to wonder if she should follow the creature or if it was just an odd coincidence.

The rat continued for a moment before the turning back around and squeaked at them. Kirara blinked in confusion as she stared at the rat in complete shock as the rat squeaked again as it turned and continued on his way.

Kirara and Shippo glanced at each other before the older youkai decided to take a chance and followed the small rodent.

' _This could very well be something more to this rat than meets the eye,_ ' Kirara thought as she watched the animal.

The rat stopped suddenly and began to run around in circles as he chased his tail.

Kirara sweat dropped.

' _Then again._ '

Shippo stared at the crazy rat as it ran in circles for a full minnet before heading off again. ' _What's his problem_?' he thought as he eyes the rat curiously, 'a _nd why does he smell of Inuyasha_? _What would that baka be doing with a rat_?'

Both kept their thoughts to themselves as they followed the small creature for a ways until they finally saw the trees thin out and the bright sun filtered through the tree line. Blinking, the two made their way out of the woods and found themselves facing a rather large cliff

Kirara glanced back towards the direction of the rat only to snort in annoyance to discover the dratted creature was gone. ' _Great. Now what's next_?' she wondered in frustration. ' _Naraku appearing out of thin air to declare war on us_?'

"HELL~O!" Kirara jumped at the sudden sound of Shippo's voice as he cupped his hands around his mouth to strengthen the call. "Is anyone here?"

The child's voice echoed off the rock face and both youkai tilted their head to listen for any response. Kirara did not expect anyone to be in the area since the last human village they had seen had been at least ten miles away, but she listed anyway. There was still a tiny grain of hope that lingered in her heart, waiting for any sign that their journey was over.

Shippo sighed after a long moment and no answer to his call.

Kirara let out a comforting whine as she slowly turned to continue on her hunt, putting her nose to the air to once more try and find the missing hanyou's scent.

Shippo refused to admit that tears were beginning to weld in his eyes and the sudden weight of despair that descended into his chest. "We knew that we wouldn't find the jerk, right Kirara?" Shippo asked in a small voice as he furiously rubbed at his moist eyes. "So why does it hurt so much?"

Kirara had no reply as she turned at the odd smell that wafted on the air. ' _A human_?' she wondered. ' _But where_?'

Shippo, in his distraught state, did not notice Kirara's sudden pause as he continued to try and bring his building tears under control.

"You know Kirara," he said under a bitter sob, "this is almost like that water game that Kagome taught us."

With a small bitter smile Shippo took a deep breath and called out, "Marco!"

So when a young female voice replied the small youko was so surprised that he completely fell off the large youkai he was riding when the answering "polo!" reached him.

Kirara whirled around, moving so she was standing protectively over the small kitsune and stared down at the little human girl that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. ' _Why do I know her_?' she thought absently before relaxing her stance as Shippo jumped to his feet and ran to the young girl.

"Do you know Inuyasha?" he blurted out as he stared at the small human girl with hopeful eyes.

The girl smiled. "Rin knows Inuyasha-Sama!" she said brightly. "Does Fox-Kun know him too?"

Shippo let out a whoop of joy and Kirara felt her shoulders sag as her focus waned long enough for her to shift into her smaller neko form. They had finally found him.

Or at least would get a better idea on where he was if the small girl had any knowledge of the hanyou's whereabouts.

' _Now if only Shippo would ask the right questions,_ ' she thought hopefully.

"Did Inuyasha-Sama teach you this game as well?" the little girl, Rin, asked.

Shippo shook his head as the tears finally fell free from his eyes and a joyful laugh burst from the small boy.

"Do you know where he is?" Shippo asked instead. "Have you seen Inuyasha? Do you know where he was going?"

The questions poured from Shippo's lips as he bounced up and down in front of the girl, completely enthusiastic with his idea of possibly finding the hanyou.

Rin smiled, seeming to have no problem keeping up with the hyper kit. "Inuyasha went hunting this morning! He said since the snows are almost here we needed some more food."

Kirara puzzled at the small girl's answers. ' _Hunting_?'

Shippo seemed to have no problem with it.

"Where will he go when he's done?" he asked

The girl smiled as she reached out and picked up the now small neko youkai. "Back here of course," she answered as she turned and started walking along the wall of the cliff. Shippo jumped and followed after her as they went around a small bend and the little makeshift paddock with An and Un came into view.

' _Ah, the odd smell,_ ' Kirara determined as she watched the creature munch on a patch of grass. The girl was just pointing out the mouth of a cave when they heard someone call the Kitsune's name.

The voice was full of surprise as the owner made his way towards the small group standing in front of the cave. "Shippo!" he called. "Kirara! What in the world are you _doing_ here?" Inuyasha demanded as he stomped up to them, glaring down at the pair.

" _INUYASHA_!" Shippo cried out as the small kit launched himself at the other youkai and buried his face in the bewildered hanyou's chest, completely ignoring Inuyasha's attempt to look angry. Letting out heaving sobs he rubbed his face back and forth against the red fabric all the while muttering Inuyasha's name as if he couldn't believe that they had actually found him.

Inuyasha held the child awkwardly and looked down at him with a small smile as he stroked the boy's head in a comforting manner. "Honestly you brat, I already did the wash," he complained to the child.

Shippo actually snorted in annoyance but didn't raise his head as he continued to cling to Inuyasha's red Fire Rat Robe.

Inuyasha looked up at the small girl who was still holding Kirara in her arms. Sending a small glare at the tiny youkai Inuyasha tilted his head in the direction of the cave's entrance. "We have a lot of talking to do," he said as he made his way inside. "Best get comfortable."

Kirara drooped her ears as she wiggled into a more comfortable position in the girl's arms as they followed him and the still sobbing youko.

Finally she could rest. They had found him and Kirara was sure that Shippo would be taken care of. She'd worry about returning to the village and the problem of Kagome later. For now, all she wanted was to relax… and maybe chase a rat.

The rest would just have to wait.


	24. Increasing Vermin

Inuyasha sighed as he sat down at the small table, shifting into a more comfortable position with the still wailing kit on his lap. ' _Keh, the kid can certainly turn on the water works,_ ' he thought with some mock annoyance. In truth, he was completely worried at the sudden child's appearance.

He glanced over at the other pair in the room and he could see Kirara take in all the little details of the cave. He saw Kirara noticing the third pallet and tell tale silver robes that told all who knew him who it was that was also living in the cave.

Inuyasha knew that Kirara was a whole lot smarter than a lot of people gave her credit for. Even Sango couldn't possibly know just how intelligent her pet fire cat _was_. He knew that he was also going to have to explain to her later the whole situation but at that moment, it was Shippo who needed his attention.

Starting with what the hell he was doing there in the first place.

He knew that there was no possible way that the small kitsune was skilled enough to hunt him down and knew that the culprit had to be the creature currently lounging in the Rin's small arms enjoying having her chin scratched.

Inuyasha frowned as he shifted the child again and gave the boy a final pat on the back.

"Okay, enough is enough," he announced as he firmly pried the small kit's claws out of his cloths and set the child down on the floor.

Looking directly into the watery eyes Inuyasha put on his most stern face. "Why are you here Shippo?" he asked.

"Me?" Shippo squeaked. " _Me_? What about _you_?"

Inuyasha jerked upright. "What about me?" he asked sharply.

"Why did you _leave_?" Shippo whined again, more tears threatening to erupt from the large, pleading eyes.

Inuyasha couldn't help but wince at the child's question and letting out a long sigh he looked down at the scratched surface of the little table and tried to bring his thought together. ' _How the hell do I answer that_?' he thought quickly to himself.

"Shippo, it was just… well… of hell!" he ran his hands thought his hair quickly as he tried to bring the words together. "It's adult stuff, kid. You wouldn't get it yet."

"I would too!" Shippo shouted indignantly.

"Would not!" Inuyasha returned.

"Would too!"

Inuyasha bit down on a scathing reply as he glared at the kit. "What I do is my life, kid. I'm a hell of a lot older that _you_ and I can most defiantly take care of myself. _You_ on the other hand, should still be living in your parents den-"

Shippo huffed as he crossed his arms and pointedly turned away from the growling hanyou. "Kinda hard when you don't have parents," he muttered angrily.

Inuyasha sighed at the small huff but he knew exactly what it was that the small kit was going through.

After all, he had gone through it himself all those years ago.

"Shippo," Inuyasha said gently, allowing some of the concern he felt creep into his voice. "My point is that you are still a very young youkai and coming after me on you own was a very, _very_ , **very** stupid thing to do."

"But I _wasn't_ alone!" Shippo complained as he turned back to look Inuyasha in the eye. "Kirara was with me!" Inuyasha turned angry eyes to glare at the now cowering neko. "And, and we've all been looking for you!" Shippo continued. "Miroku's been searching for you every day and we all miss you and it's just not the same without you!"

Inuyasha sighed as looked upward towards the top of the cave in order to keep the pained look that filtered across his face from the kitsune.

"Shippo, I had my reasons for leaving. I'm sure that the others understand that."

"But… but… why did you not tell me?" Shippo cried out in anguish. "You could have told me. I'm old enough! Really!"

Inuyasha shook his head and heaved out yet another sigh. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Shippo, it's not that simple."

"And what about the Jewel shards? And Naraku? You have to come back! We need you!"

Inuyasha shook his head. "No kid, they don't need me. Ah!" he raised a finger as Shippo's mouth opened to argue. "That don't mean that I'm not going to do anything. I will still search for the shards _and_ fight Naraku every chance I get."

Shippo looked at him hopefully and Inuyasha felt devastated that he had to crush that look. "But I'll no longer be with the gang."

Shippo's gapped at him before a look of steeled resolve passed over him and Shippo crossed his arms, turning as if the conversation no longer held any meaning to him. "Well if you want to go off and get yourself killed, that's your problem."

Inuyasha bristled. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"It mean's that without Kagome and the others you'd probably be dead somewhere! Kagome's saved your sorry hide more that a dozen times now! You owe it to her to stay! You're the only one who can protect her and the jewel shards!"

"Oh Kagome can very well take care of herself; and I'm speaking from personal experience here," Inuyasha scoffed under his breath.

"Why don't you come back? You have to come back!" Shippo demanded.

Inuyasha shook his head and pulled the kit to sit directly to across form him. "Listen kid," he said in his most strict tone ever. "I know this is hard for you, but I _can't_ go back. I'm not wanted there."

"But _I_ want you there!" Shippo burst out. The kit gasped as his hands immediately clamped over his mouth. "Didn't mean to say that," he mumbled.

Inuyasha actually smiled. "I actually missed you too kid, but the village is not longer the best place for me. Believe me kid," Inuyasha's smiled turned bitter. "I _know_ when it's time to go and it was time for me to bail."

He gently placed his hand on the child's head. "Can you understand that, munchkin?"

Shippo sniffed and shook his head, "I just don't get why you don't want to be with us anymore."

Inuyasha sighed, "it's had noting to do with you Shippo. It's just other stuff that basically forced me to go."

"But you're living in a _cave_!" Shippo burst out. "The village _has_ to be better than this!"

Inuyasha scowled, "And what about you?" he asked. "Shippo, we're youkai. Cave's are the least of our problem."

Shippo scowled and looked around the cave once again, eyes roaming over the walls and the small furnishings that Inuyasha had. "It is kinda… homey," Shippo said slowly. In fact, it was really nice.

Shippo frowned as an old memory started to surface. He could remember a he was in cave. It wasn't as big as this one. In fact it was more of a small hole in the ground. Shippo frowned as he grabbed onto the memory and hung on to it.

He almost started crying as he remembered his parents and him all smuggled in that small space. ' _Our den…_ ' Shippo remembered as fresh tears started to run down his cheeks. ' _How could I forget_?'

"Shippo," Inuyasha asked gently. "I think I kind of know why it was you were looking for me, but right now you have a choice." Shippo sniffed as he looked back up at the older youkai. "Shippo, if you want you can stay here with me if only for a few day or," and Inuyasha took a deep breath, "or I could take you back to the village."

Shippo frowned as he thought about it, knowing that if he went back to the village it would be possible that he would never see the hanyou again, but what about Kagome and the others? He knew that in a fight against Naraku he was more hinder than help, but he _could_ help with what little power he had. But how would he be able to gain more power if he didn't have another youkai to show him how to use his youki?

He was still deep in thought when a sudden yip resonated in the room.

The two youkai turned to see Kirara wriggle out of Rin's arms, now supporting a few brightly colored bows, and made her way to the small kit. She climbed into the boy's lap and stayed there, looking at Inuyasha with pleading eyes.

Inuyasha looked solemnly at the animal before turning to the children. "Shippo, why don't you think about it for a while," he told him. "For now, why don't you and Rin go play outside? Rin can show you all her favorite places."

Rin nodded as if she knew exactly what Inuyasha was trying to do and jumped to her feet, grabbing Shippo's hand and tugging him out the cave babbling about riding An and Un and other stuff, leaving Inuyasha and Kirara staring down at each other.

As Kirara struggled to figure out a way to try and make Inuyasha understand why it was that she brought Shippo to him Inuyasha sighed as he decided to make the first move.

"Kirara, I think I understand why it was that you brought him here, but I honestly didn't thing that it was that bad." Inuyasha's expression turned worried. "Is it really that bad?"

Kirara sighed and nodded her slight head.

"Damn," Inuyasha burst out as he banged his fist on the table. "I thought that if I left Kagome might get better or at least less violent."

Kirara whined, ' _ **If anything, she's worse now**_.'

Inuyasha nodded. "I figured it had to be something like that for _you_ of all people to bring the boy to me."

Kirara cooed softly as she moved to push her head under Inuyasha's hand gently pawed at the hanyou's leg. ' _ **You're the only one who can protect him**_.'

He glanced down at the small youkai and shook his head. "He was just as safe at the village as he would be with me. Sango and Miroku could at least protect him.

Kirara snorted in annoyance. ' _ **But they're**_ **human's** ,' she insisted.

Inuyasha shook his head, "you know that they're not _ordinary_ humans. They should have at least been able to keep him from serious harm."

Kirara shook her head. ' _ **A human can not care for a youkai**_ ,' she argued. ' _ **Trust me**_.'

Inuyasha chuckled and held up his hands, "Okay, okay! I'll trust you." Kirara preened with the win. "You know," Inuyasha mused, "I think I missed our conversations the most."

Kirara smiled a vulpine grin, ' _ **You really are smarter that most people believe**_ ,' she said. ' _ **I don't know why you never let anyone**_ **else** _ **know it**_.'

Inuyasha chuckled as he reached forward and taking down a small bowl he filled it with water and placed it in front of the neko. "Years of experience," he admitted before turning serious once more as he started collecting different pots and pans. "I still don't think that Shippo is safest with me though."

Kirara looked pointedly at the third futon and the multitude of silver clothing's piled on top. ' _ **So I wasn't imagining things when I thought I smelled Sesshoumaru**_ ,'

Inuyasha laughed gently, as he followed the neko's gaze to the other pallet. "Er, yeah, I should probably mention Sesshoumaru's presence to Shippo, but this is _my_ home." Kirara looked at Inuyasha with a curious gaze, the question clear in her eyes. "Well, he kinda bullied himself in," the hanyou admitted as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Kirara gave him a skeptical look but continued to lap at the water gratefully. ' _ **Best get it over with**_ ,' she told him seriously.

Inuyasha smiled, "what are you? My mother?"

Kirara said nothing but the smug feeling she sent over the mental link was more than enough.

"What about you?" he asked as he went about making dinner. "Are you going to stay with us?"

Kirara shook her head. ' _ **I owe my life to Sango's clan**_ ,' she told him. ' _ **And she's my best friend, I can't leave her alone, I could never forgive myself.**_ '

"I suppose I can respect that," Inuyasha stated before calling the kids in for food. "But are you sure you're not just going back to make Miroku's life a living hell?"

Kirara smirked but said nothing as the kids made their way into the cave.

Rin came flouncing in with all smiles but Shippo moved at a slower pace, his eyes immediately moving to the tell tale futon. "Inuyasha," he said very slowly. "Rin told me something odd."

Inuyasha groaned as Kirara sent him an " _ **I told you so**_ ," and looked at the angry child.

"Well, she's right," Inuyasha admitted slowly.

"YOU'RE LIVING WITH SEHSSHOUMARU?" Shippo burst out. "What's _wrong_ with you? Did you hit your head or something? He want's you _dead_ and you're making house with him?"

"Shippo, that's enough!" Inuyasha snapped. "There's a lot going on that you don't understand. Sesshoumaru has no say over whether or not you stay here so don't worry about him."

Shippo sulked as he turned away from the hanyou.

Inuyasha felt like tearing his hair out at the boy's antics. ' _ **Who knew dealing with kids could be so friggin difficult**_?'

' _ **You want me to help**_?'

' _ **You stay out of this**_!' he snapped at Kirara's smug offering. He could hear her soft laughter in the back of her mind and vowed to get back at her later. "Shippo, if you want, I can take you back to the village right now."

The fight seemed to just drain out of Shippo as he shook his head. "I want to stay with you," he announced.

Inuyasha's breath caught as he felt the strings of hope rise in his chest, but he just had to make sure. "Shippo, you know that if you stay with me, you may not ever see the others again."

Shippo nodded. "I thought about it, and I made my decision," he said firmly. Inuyasha smiled and gave the boy a small hug before the kit wriggled his way free. "No mushy stuff!" he shouted and the to boys grinned at each other.

"We'll talk about arrangements later," Inuyasha set the pot down on the table. "Eat first."

Shippo looked at the four plates in confusion as both Rin and Kirara sat down at the table. Well, Kirara was actually _on_ the table but that was beside the point. "But what about Sesshoumaru?" Shippo asked nervously as he sat down next to Rin. "He's going to come back, right?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll show up any day now," Inuyasha said cheerfully as he started dishing out dinner to the very hungry group. "Now eat your dinner."

Shippo took a very caution sniff of the food placed before him and gave Inuyasha a dubious stare. "This is edible?" he asked sarcastically.

Inuyasha scowled down at the smirking kitsune. "Oh shut up and eat," he ordered as he slapped down a helping of stew into his own bowl and sat down to eat.

However, Inuyasha was proven wrong as it wasn't until two days later that the missing occupant of the mismatched group finally returned.

It had been hard goings. _Very_ hard goings, but he had made it.

He had finally arrived at his intended destination and was now staring in front of the very refuge that he had been searching for, for **five** days. He had endured many perils.

Including the terror of the heard of Shika. It had been a frightening ordeal but he had over come… and managed to bring the lead buck back with him as souvenir. He wondered absently if the other would enjoy deer meat.

However, none of these thought's mattered anymore. In fact at that moment, nothing mattered but the sudden situation that the Daiyoukai suddenly found himself in.

Sesshoumaru found himself unwillingly engaged in a staring contest.

He shifted to the right, the small figure shifted with him.

He took a step forward; the figure took a small step back.

Sesshoumaru was almost tempted to raise his hand to see if the small child would mimic his actions, but managed to refrain himself from the interesting notion. Almost.

Raising his hand, he frowned as the child narrowed his eyes even more as he backed away from the confused youkai. Sesshoumaru looked over the small Kitsune's head to the amused hanyou standing in the cave entrance and told him, in a _very_ livid tone-

"The rats are multiplying."


	25. Kuufuku! The Amazing, Flying Rat!

Kuufuku was having the time of his life.

He went up; he went down. He could go left or he could go right.

He could even do tricks!

How many people in the world could say they've seen a rat perform tricks? Let alone a flying somersault on his new trampoline? The rat continued his bouncing providing much needed entertainment for the two younger people in the cave as he gave off another particularly hard jump from the soft springboard.

Kuufuku obviously didn't care what anyone thought of his antics. The trampoline was just what the doctor ordered to stave off the boredom and routine of everyday life in the cave. It was so plushy and springy that it made for the perfect toy for the hyperactive rat.

This worried Inuyasha.

The fact that Sesshoumaru had completely zonked out after his return to the cave to the point where even a rat bouncing on his person didn't wake him… well, it was defiantly a cause for concern.

Although Kuufuku seemed to have no problem with it since it enabled him to combine his two favorite activities of playing around and annoying one, certain youkai. However, it seemed as if the young lord was not going to cooperate at the moment, but that didn't stop Kuufuku in his efforts. He would just have to try harder. So the rat put an extra spring in his movements and actually managed to get a good three-foot high bounce going.

Inuyasha shook his head as he wondered just how he would go about waking his prick of a brother in time for the evening.

It had been nearly twenty-four hours since the Youkai's return and Inuyasha was actually beginning to panic. He had tried everything! From shaking the jerk to a bucket of water, until he finally had to search out the rat playing with the children and gave the animal free range over the comatose man.

And amazingly, Sesshoumaru was still out for the count.

Inuyasha frowned before he looked out the door and at the fading light that marked the passage of time. ' _Fucking bastard_! _He's doing this to me on purpose._ ' Inuyasha growled as he glared at the sprawled youkai. ' _When he wakes up, he's dead._ '

Dusk was starting to fall and he knew that he alone would not be able to protect the inhabitants of the cave once the new moon rose. While he had yet to come across some of the more dangerous of youkai, he knew that even the most harmless of demons were still ten times more powerful than the young kit and little girl.

' _Then again, if anyone show's up I could always sick Kuufuku on them,_ ' he thought amusedly while continuing to watch the enthusiastic rat hop away. The animal had actually started performing some acrobatic summersaults and Inuyasha sweat dropped before he shook his head in defeat. "Welcome to the circus that is my life," he muttered as the rat performed a rather interesting back flip.

Sesshoumaru nevertheless dozed on, blissfully oblivious to the goings on of the bounding rat and everything else for that matter.

He was in the middle of a glorious battle.

The sound of steel meeting steel. It was so exhilarating!

His enemies were nothing. He could defeat them easily. His sword mowed them down as if they were nothing more than harmless blades of grass for all the fight that they were putting up. ' _Or maybe I'm just that good,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought smugly.

The enemy was pathetic.

The enemy was weak.

The enemy was gone.

He had won.

' _As if there was any doubt,_ ' he thought triumphantly as he gazed about the battlefield.

Naraku was defeated.

His army of demon followers crushed and his towering palace engulfed in flames. It had been a long and horrendous battle full of oozing blood, smoldering husks of burned out bodies and various severed body parts scattered across the battlefield.

Sesshoumaru had never felt so alive.

With the weight of Tokujin in his hand he watched as Naraku's body smoldered, flame licking up the spider body and the creatures severed head dripping down the ceremonial pike. The kind of weapon that Sesshoumaru always saw hanging in the weapons room of the Lord of the East. Creepy guy, that. Even had the talent of making Sesshoumaru's hair stand on end.

Now Naraku, he had been a total pansy. The creature had been a complete push over and an utter waste of time.

' _Couldn't argue with the results though,'_ he thought as he looked down at the other comforting weight that leaned against his other side. The dark head was pressed against his body, golden eyes looking up at his adoringly.

There was something that wasn't quite right about all this, but as his youki was celebrating the only thing that Sesshoumaru could think of was ' _who cares_?' as he reached down and dragged the small body even closer to him.

Smiling down he ran his fingers down the raven tresses as the small cupid bowed mouth curved upward as the head leaned into the touch, the silver ears twitching on the top of the silky locks.

He smiled as he moved his hand to the back of the boy's head as he leaned down, bringing that mouth closer to him.

Oh Kami, this is what he fought so hard for. This was the reason he went to battle. This was his reward for doing well. This was what every red blooded creature in the world craved. Sought out with hunger. Fought for with need.

The lips neared his own and emanated a harsh snarl.

His instincts suddenly screamed "wrong!" at him and he reared back, pushing the boy away from him and stepped back as he watched in utter shock as the creature in front of him began to change. To shift and change as the dark black hair suddenly bleed lighter. It did not turn silver however. It was shifting into a light brown, shortening into soft tough fur.

His eyes widened when suddenly there, standing in the boy's place, was one of the Shika.

Sesshoumaru gripped the hilt of his sword as the animal snorted threateningly, moving a step forward towards him. His automatic instinct was to step back as a sudden surge of fear spiked within him.

His body was poised for flight. It was a feeling that Sesshoumaru had never really felt before but at the moment, it was not something that he cared about.

The large rack of horns lowered threateningly and Sesshoumaru moved back as other shapes began to step out of the darkness. The fallen bodies of the battle suddenly rose from the ground. The sickening sound of bones cracking resonated across the air as the bodies twisted, shifting and realigning themselves.

His breath hitched as the forms became clearer, his eyes widening in disbelief as the whole herd of deer stood before him, eyes glowing red, teeth bared and horns aimed threateningly.

"Oh _**Shit**_!" Sesshoumaru yelped as he turned and started running.

Some part of him was in complete shock that he would run away instead of turning to fight, but Sesshoumaru found that his feet had a mind of their own and they continued running. Passing blurs were the only thing he could fathom of his surroundings.

He could hear them behind him.

They were coming closer and closer with each passing moment.

He tried to run faster but it was as though each step was dragged through deep mud, he couldn't get away from them any faster! The deer were gaining on him. He couldn't run fast enough.

' _If I get out of this_ ,' he thought sourly, ' _we'll eat nothing but venison for a year._ ' He ran faster, the hot stench of their foul breath right behind him. ' _Make that decades_.'

Suddenly the landscape changed.

Open fields became dense forest. The mounds of bodies he had so easily defeated were now boulders that blocked his way. He tried to look for an escape but none presented itself to him.

He couldn't turn, couldn't dodge, couldn't do anything but run and run in a straight line.

It was then that he saw it, straight ahead, the cave! Sweet mother of mongrels, there it was! Safety at last!

He glanced over his shoulder to see exactly how close the deer were to him when he nearly faltered in his steps and crashed head first into a tree.

It wasn't deer behind him.

It wasn't the deer's foul breath he smelled.

It wasn't the deer's glowing beady eyes that bore holes into him.

It was rats.

Hundreds and hundreds of _rat_ s. With that blasted pet of Inuyasha's leading the charge.

"Fuck!" he screamed and made for the large hole that was the entrance.

But something was wrong.

The cave was closing.

"NO!" he screamed as he threw his arm forwards, reaching for his any chance of freedom as it slowly closed before him. As the last glimmer of black faded so too did his resoning. He crashed into the wall at full tilt and immediately clawed at the rock face

"Let me in! Let me in NOW!" He shouted. It had been the first time that anyone dared to disobey him. There had never been a time that his every demand was not heeded. He banged against the rock wall. He knew that they were in there. Inuyasha was in there, ignoring him. Him as well as Rin and that annoying kitsune- all of them-laughing at how pathetic he was running from rats.

He whirled around as he watched the horde of enlarged vermin still coming right at him. Teeth bared and glowing red eyes all pointed straight at him.

"Oh Kami, I'm going to die," Sesshoumaru murmured as his eyes squeezed shut in fear…

…Only to snap open again to the sight of a small grey fur ball.

A small grey fur ball that was rapidly getting larger by the second.

The small rodent landed with a happy squeak right on top of the Inu-domo's surprised visage.

Silence.

Sesshoumaru's eyes went cross as he stared into the dark beads of the animal's own eyes while Kuufuku gave another squeak of "hello," and showed just how much he had missed his archenemy with a welcome home nip to Sesshoumaru's nose.

That was all it took for the almighty Lord of the West to finally crack.

"!"

Inuyasha was sitting at the little table; his head balanced in his hand had just about fallen asleep when the scream startled him into full awareness, losing his equilibrium and nearly clonking his head on the table's shiny surface.

Jumping to his feet, his golden eyes snapped towards the pallet where the other Inu Youkai was housed just in time to see the taller man snap his body upright and propelling the family "pet" like boulder from a catapult off of his face.

Kuufuku hit the side of the cave with an "erk" and slid down the dark surface almost as if in slow motion. It didn't take the hanyou long to figure out what happened as he watched Rin move to the animal's aid.

It had appeared that Kuufuku, who had been having so much fun bouncing up and down on the unconscious youkai's stomach, had somehow miscalculated his latest jump and fell with a rather happy squeak right on top of his brothers face.

Inuyasha wished briefly that he had caught the whole thing with one of those Cam-E-rah's of Kagome's just so he could watch it again and again and again. Sesshoumaru's current expressions were quite amusing as well.

"I'll kill that rat!" Sesshoumaru roared as he lurch to his feet and fumbled for Tokujin.

Kuufuku was anything but stupid and knew danger when it was looking at him with eyes that were dangerously turning red. The ever-remorseful rodent turned tail and ran to the nearest safety zone that was available to him.

Inuyasha squawked in surprise as small claws dug into his legs and torso as the rat climbed up his body as if he were a ladder and came to rest on his shoulder, burrowing his head under the silky locks of his hair, tail twitching sporadically in fear.

"Do you mind?" he snapped indignantly at the animal as he saw his brother was still advancing.

"Hey!" Shippo cried from the floor angrily. "What do you think you are doing you rodent!"

Inuyasha gapped as the small kitsune suddenly surged forward, and he felt the abrupt pain of small sharp little needles of this kits claws dug into his abused person as the child followed Kuufuku's earlier example and climbed the hanyou like a tree.

"That's my spot!" Shippo called out as Inuyasha winced as the nails met the tender flesh of his thigh. "Only I," hips, "can sit," _stomach,_ "on the baka's," chest, "shoulder!"

Shippo made a lunge for the creature. "Get down!"

"Both of ya's get down you pests!" Inuyasha bellowed as he started to whirled about the cave in an effort to catch one of the elusive vermin that were running circles around his shoulders.

Shippo snarled as he made a grasp for Kuufuku's tail only to be grabbed by sharp teeth instead as Kuufuku tried to climb even higher under Inuyasha's darkening hair to the top of his very scalp.

Shippo was right behind him. "Get off!"

"Will ya _both_ get **OFF**!" Inuyasha screamed as he tried to grab the small fox kit that was losing his footing while still attempting to reach his _other_ occupant and was currently sliding down his robe. Leaving stinging claw marks in his wake.

"I ain't ya treehouse! Get off!"

"Can Rin have a turn later?"

"What? NO!"

Rin pouted as she sat back down at the table and continued to sip her tea as she watched the antics of the so-called "adults".

"Go away!" Shippo yelled.

"Drop Dead!" Inuyasha screamed.

"Squeeeeee!" Kuufuku squealed.

"Grrrrrrrrrr."

The three froze.

"Uh-oh," echoed off the cave, in stereo.

This was not good.


	26. The Wonderful World of Goo

_Must kill rat_! _Must kill rat_! _Must kill rat_! _Must kill_...'

There wasn't a single youkai in all four kingdoms that could not say that Sesshoumaru was anything but determined. Whenever the Inu decided on a course of action, come hell or high water he would see it through. If an annoying lesser demon annoyed him, he would have it executed. If a fellow lord of the four kingdoms's pissed him off, he wouldn't so much as kill him as make his life a living hell.

Sesshoumaru was a headstrong demon that would follow through on his every threat…

Unless of course there was one hanyou turned human standing in his way. The youkai's mantra of mental thought didn't as much as stop as much as change direction.

' _Protect mate_! _Kill rat_!' So when the moon fully rose and the strange powers of his youki were released the Inu Taishou couldn't help a toothy grin. The reaction to his enlarged presence was immediate.

"Sesshoumaru! Stop drooling! You'll ruin the rushes!"

The great dog froze in utter shock at both the ferociousness and the complete absurdness of the shout.

Hell, even the rat stopped gnawing on the kitsune's collar and gave Inuyasha an odd look at the explosion.

Too bad for Sesshoumaru, however, that the human wasn't done with his tirade. "Watch your tail! I don't want any of the furniture broken- SESSHOUMARU YOUR TAIL!

Sesshoumaru froze as a familiar pungent odor filled his nostrils. One of smoke and burning hair… ' _ **Oh FUCK**_!'

Kitsune and rat went flying as Inuyasha rushed forward determined to put out the youkai's flaming tail. Grabbing the tea kettle that hand been simmering over the flames, Inuyasha used all of his limited human strength to fling the hot water.

Sesshoumaru had never before had tears in his eyes as a full Youkai Inu, but the scalding water had practically thrown him from the fire into the pot! His fur had at least kept the flame from reaching his most tender flesh while the water just drenched it.

Letting out a painful yelp, Sesshoumaru instinctively moved away from the source of the …ahem… trauma, much to Inuyasha's irritation, and immediately started to lick his wounded pride as well as his tail.

"Oh for crying out loud," Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the large animal's antics. "It's just water!"

Sesshoumaru whimpered in response.

Rin started crying in dismay as she rushed forward towards the youkai with only the thoughts of offering comfort to her beloved lord.

Inuyasha was slower as a full human; however he was quick when it counted. He darted forward and grabbed the girl, quickly pulling her away. It was just in time too as sharp fangs and deadly drool pierced the area where the girl had been standing.

"SESSHOUMARU! BEHAVE!" Inuyasha shouted angrily as he eyed the bubbling puddle of melting rock and sizzling rushes.

Sesshoumaru actually managed to pull an apologetic look and brought his head down letting out a mournful woof.

Inuyasha sighed in relief that Sesshoumaru had been able to regain his senses as he turned to the distraught little girl and motioned for Shippo to come over to join the conversation.

"Rin, I'm sure that Sesshoumaru or Jakken… wait, scratch that, _just_ Sesshoumaru has told you before that you are never, never, _never_ to approach a wounded youkai. No matter if they are the closest person to you."

"Yeah," Shippo piped up. "Survival Instincts take over and if you're not careful, you become lunch."

Inuyasha stared at the little Kitsune before brought down his fist over the foxes head. Shippo yelped in surprise and dartted in little running circles as he began rubbing at the now forming bruise. While the kit's antics were normal, Inuyasha's were not at the human just froze up after hitting the small kit.

Sesshoumaru and Rin looked curiously at the boy before Inuyasha seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had been in, cleared his throat and turned back to the little girl. "Do you understand?" he asked gently. "Sesshoumaru didn't mean it."

And to affirm Inuyasha's announcement Sesshoumaru leaned forward and gave another gentle woof.

"But…But… Sesshoumaru-Sama is in pain." Rin whimpered. "Rin just wanted to help."

"And I'm sure that you did, and I'm sure that Sesshoumaru is grateful that you are concerned about him," Inuyasha said soothingly completely ignoring the slight huff from behind him. "But you have to remember Rin," he continued, "Youkai heal a whole lot faster because they have their youki to help fix everything quickly." Inuyasha cringed again but forced a smile. "Do you understand now?"

Rin hiccupped but nodded.

"Okay then," Inuyasha stood up. "Then why don't you two go fetch your futons and you two sleep in the back caverns tonight?"

"What? Why?" Shippo demanded irritably. "Why can't we sleep out here in the main cave like always? Why do we have to sleep in the back?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I'm Human dork. If anything gets past Sesshoumaru, I won't be able to stop them so I want you two safe, alright?"

Shippo puzzled over that logic but shrugged as Rin had already gathered her pillow and covers and started to head towards the "Human's Only Club Cave" as Inuyasha had named it after the little girl had gone in to explore a while back. Shippo had been very upset that there way a place that he couldn't go but some dumb girl could.

Inuyasha watched as the two children and rat disappeared into the darkness and stood silent for a moment or two until he was sure that the children had traveled far enough into the back tunnels that they wouldn't hear him. Then flood gates opened.

"FUCKING HELL! OW! OW! OW! OW! OH DAMN IT HURTS! WATER! WATER! WATER!"

Inuyasha dashed forward so quickly that Sesshoumaru wondered briefly if he had regained his youki in the two point six seconds he blinked.

The dark haired human had raced forward and shoved his arms all the way to the elbow into the barrel of reserved water they kept for cooking and such. His disturbingly flat teethe were gritted and bared as he stood completely still for a moment before his body went completely limp and Inuyasha collapsed to the floor.

Sesshoumaru wasn't worried about his younger brother. He didn't care for the brat at all. Not a bit. Youkai never "worry" about anyone but themselves.

They just become curious.

' _ **WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON**_?' Sesshoumaru dashed forward and began to obsessively nose at the limp human. ' _ **Inuyasha**_! _ **You better not be dead**_!' Sesshoumaru continued his "inquisitive" demands. ' _ **Or I'll be having Kitsune for breakfast**_!'

"I'm not dead…" Inuyasha moaned as he pushed against the large wet nose from his side. "And don't underestimate Shippo… he's a right pain in the ass." The human sat up. "Besides, I would think that Kuufuku would be your top priority if I kick the bucket."

' _ **Midnight snack**_.'

Inuyasha smirked as he allowed Sesshoumaru's prodding demnads and rolled onto his back, both hands now shoved between his knees. "Oh god," he groaned. "Tell me you have the all powerful Goo."

' _ **Why do you**_ **need** _ **the blasted Goo**_?' Sesshoumaru demanded. ' _ **What did you do now**_? _ **What the hell is wrong**_? _ **And why do you insist on using**_ **my** _ **Goo**_? _**I only have a little bit left you know**_.'

"Ungrateful mongrel," Inuyasha growled as he rolled to his feet and belly crawled towards Sesshoumau's pack. He shook his head at the demon's attitude as he rolled his eyes. _'Damn_ , _it's going to be a long winter_ ,' he thought irritably.

' _ **Where do you think you are going**_?' Sesshoumaru demanded as he tried to pick his way across the now completely furnished cave with out setting his tail or any other needed appendages alight.

"Where do you think? I'm getting The Goo."

' _ **Yes, I see that**_ ,' Sesshoumaru drawled. ' **WHY** _ **are you getting The Goo**_?'

Inuyasha gave Sesshoumaru a piercing glare. "That kettle was over the fire you know."

Sesshoumaru paused as he thought about it. Inuyasha had grabbed the closest thing to put out his tail. The closest thing had been the simmering kettle of water. Inuyasha had not stopped to pick up a potholder.

Sesshoumaru growled as he finally reached his human companion and peered at the damage with his piercing red eyes.

' _ **Stupid human**_ _._ '

"I heard that!"

' _ **What were you thinking you stupid little creature**_? _**Why did you have to grab the kettle**_?'

Inuyasha scowled as he continued searching through Sesshoumaru's possessions for the all-powerful Goo. "There wasn't really much time to stop and smell the roses let a lone think, ya know?"

Sesshoumaru scowled as he nudged the red clad figure. ' _ **That's your problem,**_ ' he scolded,' _ **you**_ **don't** _ **think**_ **.** '

Inuyasha turned his back pointedly towards the youkai and ignored him for all of two seconds. "Should have let you burn to a crisp."

' _ **I heard that**_!' Sesshoumaru snapped.

"Well be a little grateful you jerk!" Inuyasha whirled back around. "You could at least say 'thanks' you self centered-"

' _ **Yes, yes**_ ,' Sesshoumaru interrupted. ' _ **I do understand that you did**_ … _ **save me**_ …' Sesshoumaru immediately began smacking his lips as if there was a foul taste in his mouth. ' _ **And I do owe you a**_ … _ **oh Kami**_ …' Inuyasha waited patiently. He knew that this was hard for the older youkai but damn it he wanted to hear it from the Inu's own mind.

'… … … … _**thanks**_. _**There I said it**_.'

"Technically, you thought it," Inuyasha smirked.

' _ **What**_? _**You snotty little-**_ '

"Just kidding."

Sesshoumaru frowned as much as a Demon Dog could frown and watched as Inuyasha methodically tore through all his non-chewed possessions. ' _ **Must you toss my things around in such a careless manor**_?' he asked as he watched yet another of his prized combs thrown gracefully across the cave. ' _ **It's not like the rat left me with much**_.'

"You know," Inuyasha huffed irritably, "you could help me find it a _lot_ faster if you just tell me _where the stupid thing is_!"

Sesshoumaru had the decency to duck his head in a somewhat contrite manor. ' _ **I forgot where I put it**_ **,** ' he admitted.

Inuyasha started in disbelief. "How could you not remember where you put a whole pot?" he asked in amazement.

Sesshoumaru frowned. ' _ **I never have to remember where I put things,**_ ' the Inu snuffed haughtily, ' _ **that's what servants are for**_.'

Inuyasha paused as the sudden image of Sesshoumaru sprawled out in a winged back chair decked out in a pink-feathered robe and red painted toenails as Jakken brought him his fuzzy bunny slippers and a martini popped into his head.

Sesshoumaru cast a curious look at the sudden burst of laughter but Inuyasha waved him off. ' _I have_ got _to stop looking at those damn fashion magazines that Kagome leaves everywhere_.'

He moved one of Sesshoumaru's now Kuufuku's robes out of the way and shouted in triumph as he spotted the earthen jar of wonderful, glorious Goo. Sesshoumaru watched as a look of pure enrapture stole over Inuyasha's features and wished wistfully that it was because of him that such an expression on his beloved's face and not some mixture of sticky leaves and Kami knew what else.

' _ **Are you just going to sit there fondling the thing or are you actually going to put any on it on**_?' he asked after a long stretch of silence.

Inuyasha huffed as he pulled out the stopper and rubbed the precious Goo into his acing hands.

Sesshoumaru began an intense inspecting his scorched tail but in truth it was just a ruse for watching Inuyasha with out it being known he was watching Inuyasha who was inspecting the red lines across his palms.

' _ **I do wish you wouldn't act so stupidly**_ ,' he sent to the human quietly.

Inuyasha jumped after having his blissful peace interrupted and whirled around to face the Youkai. He had had enough! Enough of all the glaring and the snarling and insults when he had done nothing at all to deserve them!

"God DAMN it! What the hell is your problem? You leave for _days_ on end and why you finally _do_ come back you have to criticize and dictate every little thing that I do! Well fuck you!"

Sesshoumaru ducked as an unidentifiable knick-knack flew towards him and he cringed as he heard it shatter against the wall. "This is MY cave!" Inuyasha shouted. "I live here! I'm the one who allowed you to live here!"

' **Now see here-** '

"Oh no!" Inuyasha interrupted Sesshoumaru's protests. "I could have made a huge fuss when you declared you were going to live here, hell, before Shippo came I could have just booked it but I have been nothing but courteous and have listened to all you sneers and insults and I'm not talking about the ones about my heritage but of the way I live my life!"

Sesshoumaru stared in shock at the gasping human before him in shock. He hadn't realized just how upset those comments he made in passing almost with out though had hurt the boy. He wasn't about to interrupt however as Inuyasha whirled away from him and continued his tirade as he made a wide sweeping gesture towards the accommodations. "I'm so _sorry_ if my standard of living is below par to your _royal_ senses but I'll have you knew that this cave has been the most elegant and first stable place I've ever lived."

He turned and sharp bronze eyes glared at him and Sesshoumaru felt any words he would have said die in his throat as he stormed towards him. "I am not going to stand here and listen to any of this anymore criticize the way I live when all I've ever live in were trees while sleeping while I can when every demon and crazy human wants me _dead_!"

Inuyasha's eyes turned to pure ice as he stared directly into the crimson eyes. "And it's _you_ who wants me dead most of all!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I've done what was needed to survive and if you think that living in a such a _sacrifice_ you can very well GWT OUT!"

The two stared at each other; Inuyasha's chest heaving and Sesshoumaru had actually managed to squeeze his massive girth into the smallest corner of the cave in an attempt to retread from the angry ningen.

"Um…"

The two turned towards the antechamber's entrance and at the two wide eyed children standing there.

"Dose this mean I can have the bigger futon?" Shippo asked while Rin simply held Kuufuku like some odd stuffed animal with large tears running down her cheeks.

Inuyasha cursed under his breath and Sesshoumaru felt himself sag in releife at the interruption.

Something told him the conversation was far from over and the Inu wondered how in the world he was suppose make the hanyou fall in love with him when it seemed that he was the last person in Inuyasha's life who deserved it.


	27. Small Spaces

"Is Sesshoumaru-Sama going away again?" Rin asked in a high, trembling voice.

Inuyasha let out another curse as he made his way to the girl. "No sweetheart, no one is going anywhere."

"But you told him to get out!" Shippo exclaimed. "So why hasn't he left yet?"

"Shippo!" Inuyasha glared as he carefully picked up the still crying girl, careful not to use his hands too much or get any of the Goo on her clothes.

"Rin doesn't want to leave Inuyasha-Sama!" Rin continued wailing as she buried her face in Inuyasha's neck. "Rin doesn't want Sesshoumaru to leave and never come back."

Inuyasha jiggled the girl slightly in an attempt to calm her down. "It's all right," he repeated over and over again. "No one is leaving the cave, we're not going to leave you behind."

Sesshoumaru cringed as he heard the answering hurt in his brothers voice to the girls fears and knew that for all those years when Inuyasha was a pup, that all anyone ever did was leave him.

' _Kami, how did I fuck up so badly_?' Sesshoumaru wondered sadly as he though about all the hardships Inuyasha had to have faced growing up and knowing that with one word on his part, Sesshoumaru could have changed Inuyasha's life forever. His attitude towards the halfling hadn't really been any crueler than any other demon when he confronted and humiliated Inuyasha, so why did he feel like such a royal screw up?

There was an angry squeak at his feet and Sesshoumaru looked down to find an angry rat running and attacking his massive paws, biting and clawing with a look of pure murder in his eyes.

Sesshoumaru felt a surge of triumphant glee sizzle through him at the though of bringing up his giant paw and squishing the rodent into a gray paste before suppressing the happy thought. Inuyasha was pissed off enough as it was and it was amusing to watch the animal bounce off his rather large toes.

Inuyasha never noticed his self appointed guardian's attempt to regain his honor as he glared at Shippo's newest declaration that if Sesshoumaru wasn't going to leave then the kit would make him go.

Sesshoumaru apparently heard however as the walls of the cave reverberated with the force of his growl.

Squeaking in terror, the small kit dove towards Inuyasha's futon and burrowed himself under the worn comforter.

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha started in exasperation only to start when the rumbling instantly ceased with out Inuyasha having to say more.

He glanced at the creature but Sesshoumaru's eyes gave not impression as to what the youkai was thinking.

Thanking his lucky stars instead of analyzing what his older sibling was thinking with this latest show of compliance, he turned to the girl who's gasping cries had turned to exhausted sobs.

"Rin, it's okay. We were just mad at each other. We didn't mean anything by it."

"But," the girl hiccupped. "Inuyasha-sama told Sesshoumaru-sama to leave."

Inuyasha sighed in defeat, knowing full well how closely to the conversation Sesshoumaru was actually listening to. "I was just angry I didn't mean it seriously."

"But Inuyasha-sama said-" the girl trailed off, wide eyes staring up pleadingly at him.

"Sometimes adults say stupid things when they're angry. I was just mad at Sesshoumaru and I just didn't want to deal with him at the moment."

"You always angry at me and tell me to go away all the time and you never not mean it!" Shippo's muffled shouts emerged from the mound of covers.

Inuyasha groaned as he realized he had a lot more to deal with than just Rin's insecurities. "Shippo," he began only to have the kitsune spring from the covers like some angry deranged jack-in-the-box.

"No! You yell at me all the time and you always mean it! Why should it be different when you're yelling at Sesshoumaru?"

Inuyasha could feel a headache coming on and Sesshoumaru's innocent quire of whether or not he should eat the brat was not helping.

"Shippo, there is a lot of difference from telling some one to 'go away for the moment' and to 'go away forever'." Inuyasha tried to explain. "You should realize that I really never mean it when I shout at you to leave, it's just that sometimes people just like to be alone."

"Then you must _really_ love being alone 'cuz you tell me to go away all the time!"

Inuyasha set Rin down and slowly moved to the angry youko. He was no fool. Shippo may be just a child, but he was still a kitsune through and through.

"Shippo," Inuyasha started to try with yet another explanation when the hurt and anger that shown in the child's eyes finally did him in. "I'm sorry, okay? I never really considered your feelings and I should have."

Shippo gasped.

Sesshoumaru gasped.

Rin managed to fall asleep standing up.

And Kuufuku, seeing as his valiant attempts to do Sesshoumaru bodily harm were having no effect whatsoever, dragged yet another robe out the door.

Inuyasha looked around the cave warily. "What? I'm telling the truth."

"But you admitted it," Shippo gapped in awe.

Inuyasha frowned at the statement before rousing Rin and picked the sleepy girl back up.

' _ **Never show weakness,**_ ' Sesshoumaru's voice floated through his mind. ' _ **Youkai are never raised with stupid human emotions. Only the strong survive. The kit should realize that, were he still being raised by his clan, he would be subjugated to much worse things than being scolded and sent away.**_ '

"Yeah well incase you hadn't noticed, I _am_ a human." Sesshoumaru gave him a bale stare. "For the moment anyway," Inuyasha huffed.

"What?" Shippo looked puzzled at Inuyasha's sudden declaration of being human. Any idiot could see that right now he was human.

Inuyasha shook his head. ' _ **We'll talk later**_ ,' he sent to Sesshoumaru unwittingly sending the Youkai into shock that he responded in mind speak.

"I'm sorry that our argument woke you up as well," Inuyasha continued as he took the small kit's hand to lead them back to bed. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"But you didn't wake us," Shippo announced and Inuyasha looked at him curiously.

"Then why were you two awake at such a late hour?"

"We wanted to ask you where the tunnel went."

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha glanced at each other in confusion. "It's just a roundabout passage," Inuyasha told him. "You know that."

"Not that one," the small whisper came from the ningen's shoulder. "The other one."

Both of the brothers stopped dead as they stared at the little girl. Inuyasha looked down at the girl, fear starting to creep upwards from the pit of his stomach and he could feel Sesshoumaru standing up and making his way around the furniture to his side.

"What other one?" Inuyasha asked through the growing lump in his throat.

"The one in the clubhouse."

" **WHAT**?" Two voices shouted simultaneously.

' _ **I though you told me that there was nothing**_ **in** _ **that cave**_!' Sesshoumaru shouted as he stormed past the small group and tore through the tunnel.

"THERE WASN'T!" Inuyasha shouted back.

Both children now wide awake stared at Inuyasha. "Don't ask," Inuyasha frowned as he took the children and followed the stampeding demon. It wasn't like there was much that Sesshoumaru could do being youkai and all but it was comforting that Sesshoumaru was taking their safety seriously.

' _It's the brink of paranoia but I'll take it._ '

They came upon the oldest youkai frantically pacing back and forth in front of the smaller cave as close as the anti-demon wards would allow, peering into the glooming darkness lit only by Rin's little night torch.

Setting down the girl Inuyasha asked if she would show him this new tunnel.

Grinning, the little girl skipped past her mentor and right though the barrier much to the hanyou's amusement and the Youkai's irritation if the mental grumbling was anything to go by.

Passing the irritated Inu and moving smoothly through the barrier with much more dignity Inuyasha couldn't help but flick his head slightly tossing his hair in childish manner.

Sesshoumaru was not amused. ' _ **Very funny,**_ ' he groused. ' _ **Care to focus for once in your life**_?'

Inuyasha tossed an impish glance over his shoulder and added an extra spring into his step. He figured after the emotional hurricane the youkai put him through, he could be a little childish.

When he got through the wards however his face turned serious as he moved over to where Rin was waiting for him.

He stopped and glanced around quizzically for any sign of a tunnel. "Um Rin…"

The child giggled. "It's down here silly!" She said as she pulled her little nest of blankets away from the wall and pointed to spot.

Inuyasha frowned at the cave wall. True that the spot was a little darker but the wall still looked solid and whole.

Rin huffed and taking a hold of his hand and pulled the hanyou down to the floor. "You can't see it from up there."

Brows furrowing, Inuyasha allowed himself to be pulled down to the floor watching the spot critically and gasped in amazement as the wall suddenly shimmered and just disappeared.

"Did you find anything?" Inuyasha jumped at Shippo's sudden called.

' _ **What's there**_?' came Sesshoumaru's voice right after Shippo's question. ' _ **Is there another tunnel**_? _**Can you see where it leads**_? _**How big is it**_? _**How many-**_ '

Inuyasha huffed out an irritated breath as he purposefully tuned out the irritated demands of the youkai.

"If you would give me a moment to _breathe_!" Inuyasha called out, "I can tell you that there is another tunnel."

Inuyasha blinked in surprise at the multitude of swearwords bombarding his mind. Some even _he_ had never herd of.

He shook his head at the mantra and began to study the little tunnel. And it _was_ little. A small tunnel that perhaps only Shippo and _maybe_ Rin could wriggle though. It was obvious that this was no natural or animal made tunnel. The walls of the tunnel were too smooth, to rounded.

And the fact that it had an illusion spell placed on it so you could only see was a very large clue.

He squinted but couldn't see very far in the darkness. Cursing his weekend human eyes. "Rin? Can you see down this tunnel in the day time?" he asked.

The little girl shrugged. "Rin just found it tonight."

Inuyasha nodded. "Of course you did," he murmured absently.

Kuufuku appeared beside him and darted past the surprised boy and disappeared into the murky darkness.

"Kuufuku! Damn it! Come back here!"

He turned back to look down the tunnel and his eyes widened when he realized what it was he was seeing.

Sesshoumaru, meanwhile, was _still_ pacing in front of the cave. ' _What is taking him so long_?' he thought irritably.

How long did it take someone to check if there was a hole in a wall or not?

He scowled at the entrance, a heighten feeling tingling down his spine. Every one of his senses were on the alert for something. Sesshoumaru would say it was almost like his feeling before going into battle but the angry Inu was ignoring all his feeling instead focusing on the cave entrance and the boy that was still on the other side.

The kitsune was clearly just as agitated, but still kept a full four feet between himself and the agitated Youkai. An amazing achievement considering Sesshoumaru's body took up a good three quarters of the chamber and the food supplies and other items filled the rest.

Sesshoumaru snarled slightly at the kit but it was more a habit than true annoyance at the creature. He hated feeling that he was helpless should anything hostile emerge from the new threat.

His senses were pushing to the forefront incisively and Sesshoumaru actually had to give pause as to wonder what it was his youki was trying to tell him.

"SESSHOUMARU!"

The shout shook the youkai to the core as he moved as close to the barrier as he dared when Inuyasha's for appeared in the touches light.

Sesshoumaru could not see anything chasing him but the look of pure fear on the boys face and pleading look for help in his gold turning eyes was all that it took for Sesshoumaru to realize the situation!

' _ **INUYASHA**_!' he shouted before his own transformation took hold of him.

It was in horror that he watch Inuyasha just reach the warding spell when the realized that dawn had completely appeared and Inuyasha was only half way through when the spell took hold.

A scream of pure torment shook the cavern when the wards flared to life, bolts of electricity shot out from where the now returned hanyou was trapped and Sesshoumaru dodged the flying bolts of light even as he tried to reach Inuyasha's side to pull him to safety.

Suddenly the lights died and all Sesshoumaru could see was the form of his youki's chosen mate collapsing in a heap on the floor.

…On the _other_ side of the still humming wards.


	28. Side Effects

"INUYASHA!" Shippo wailed despairingly as he surged forward towards the unmoving figure.

Sesshoumaru cursed and grabbed the kit's collar, hauling him back just as another streak of lightning shot out from the pulsating force field.

"Let me go, Kisama!" Shippo struggled against Sesshoumaru's hold as the Inu pulled the flailing child to his chest to further restrain the boy, his eyes never leaving Inuyasha.

Even with only one arm, the kitsune could not break the youkai's hold and Sesshoumaru snarled at him. "Shut up and let me think!"

Shippo only struggled harder.

Sesshoumaru ignored the child as his mind desperately tried to think of a way to get Inuyasha through the wards back onto the main side. If the hanyou was still alive…

' _No_!' he quickly suppressed the though. ' _You can see that he's breathing._ ' And he could see Inuyasha's chest moving rapidly up and down as he struggled for breath.

"Oh Kami," Sesshoumaru whispered and prayed that he was not about to watch Inuyasha die right in front of him while he could do absolutely nothing.

Inuyasha belonged to him, damn it. He wasn't going to allow any one or anything else take his precious otouto away from him!

"Sesshoumaru-Sama!"

Sesshoumaru's head jerked upward from the fallen boy to the now hysterical little girl that was running to Inuyasha's side and desperately shaking his shoulder in an effort to wake him up.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama! Help!" the girl continued as she continued her attempts to wake him.

"Rin!" Sesshoumaru cried, "I need you to come through the wards for a moment. Youko!" Shippo stopped his struggling in surprise that Sesshoumaru was actually addressing him. "Go get a damp rag from the main cave and some snow."

Shippo didn't even bother arguing with the Inu as he darted to fetch the needed items.

The kit on his mission, Sesshoumaru turned back to the still sobbing girl. He tried not to allow any of his fear onto his face and struggled to maintain his blank visage but his insides were tearing apart at the seams with worry.

"Rin, we need to wake Inuyasha up and you're the only one who can do it, alright?"

"But,"

"Rin! We have to wake him up, it's not good if he stays asleep!" Sesshoumaru new that their time to wake the hanyou was getting shorter. He may not be a healer, but he knew Spell wards and though this one was not one he had ever seen before he knew of one of the effects.

A spell to tear apart a Youkai's mind from the inside out and drove them insane while trapped in their comatose state.

Shippo returned just as quickly as he left but much more carefully under the weight of the bowl full of snow.

Taking the item from the boy he thrust the bowl towards Rin. The girl trembled as the bowl was shoved in her hands.

"Rin," she looked up at the sound of Sesshoumaru's voice full of determination. "You have to be strong. You're the only one who can pass through the wards and help Inuyasha."

"Please," Shippo's voice added to the mix.

Rin looked between the two males, both full youkai and so much stronger than her and yet she was the only one who could help Inuyasha-sama.

Nodding, she turned and with determination went back into the cave and immediately started wiping Inuyasha's brow with the cold snow all the while talking to Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru watched intently for any change, any sign of movement that would show that Inuyasha was still just unconscious and not pulled into the poison dreams the wards would cause hoping that they were not too late.

There! There was a sudden twitch of Inuyasha's ear. "Inuyasha!" He suddenly shouted causing the two children to jump. "Damn you, you brat! Wake up!"

Rin frowned as she continued to place the cold snow onto the now shivering hanyou.

Sesshoumaru didn't even realize that he was biting his lower lip in his worry, an old habit from his school days. They had to get Inuyasha to wake up. That was the most pressing matter at the moment. He would worry about everything else later. Such as what the wards may have done to him physically.

There was no possibility of a healer anywhere close by and if Sesshoumaru left to get one, even on his _spirit cloud_ that took him straight back to the palace, there was no grantee that he could bring them back to the cave in time if he could get back to the cave at all.

Worse case scenario would be he would have to take Inuyasha on An and Un but he was hesitant to move the younger man. He had heard that there was a risk in moving a person incase of internal damage. It was even twice as harmful to move a youkai who's youki was damaged.

Sesshoumaru cursed the fact that he never bothered listening to the old healers teachings.

Not that it mattered even if he did know a thing or two about healing a youkai's inner powers if they couldn't get Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru through the pulsating wards to the other's aid.

"Inuyasha!" He shouted again.

The ear twitched at the sound of his voice but Inuyasha stayed stubbornly unconscious. Sesshoumaru cursed again. They continued for what seemed like hours, Shippo running back and fourth retrieving more and more snow as it melted on Inuyasha's hot flesh.

"Rin!" he called to the child and she jerked in surprise. "You need to take off Inuyasha's haori and put the snow on his chest. We need to get him awake _now_!

Rin nodded and began pulling at the fire rat robes furiously; exposing the hanyou's chest and she up righted an entire bowl of snow onto the exposed body.

Inuyasha gasped and jerked.

"Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha-sama!"

"BAKA! GET UP NOW!"

Rin poured more snow on the motionless body in front of her before she frowned in thought.

They were almost there! Inuyasha was almost awake. Just a little more and he would be all right. Of only she could figure out a way to wake him up! There was something else that she had to do! They were so close.

Thinking back, she remember something someone once told her to do if a man ever attacked her. Hoping it would somehow help, she put her plan into action.

Taking a deep breath, she took a huge handful of snow and sending up a prayer that Inuyasha wouldn't kill her if this worked, grabbed the hem of the fabric with her free hand and shoved the entire snowball right down his pants.

Sesshoumaru's shout of astonishment and Shippo's yelp of surprise was drowned out by Inuyasha's deafening scream of shock.

He tried to jump to his feet but the fact that his body wouldn't cooperate gave Inuyasha only one option as he desperately tried to scramble out of his pants.

"Inuyasha-sama!" Rin shouted happily, glad that her idea had worked.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo cried with relief to see his idol wasn't going to die.

"RIN!" Sesshoumaru shouted angrily. "Just what did you think you were doing?"

Rin frowned confused. She had woken Inuyasha-sama up, hadn't she?

"Sesshoumaru?"

Golden eyes swiveled towards Inuyasha who was staring at his surroundings in and at his companions on the other side of the glowing wards. "Wha-What happened?" he stuttered.

"Later," he snapped. "Tell me. Are you feeling dizzy? Dose anything feel out of place? Have you sustained any injuries?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened as he began to realize what had happened and immediately began taking stock of all his appendages.

Sesshoumaru had to mentally slap himself upside the head as he watched the trail of melted snow flow over Inuyasha's muscular chest and tried to force himself to stop staring and search for injuries.

Inuyasha sighed in relief that other than being cold and the slight prickling of numbness in his legs, everything seemed to be working all right. His head was pounding though and he could feel the dark grip of unconsciousness threatening to take hold of him once more.

"DAMN IT! DON'T FALL ASLEEP!" Sesshoumaru roared as he saw Inuyasha's eyes threatening do close once more.

Inuyasha jerked his head up and tried to focus on his brothers tall form but it was so easy to just close his eyes and let it all go.

"Damn it," he heard Sesshoumaru curse again. "Rin!"

There was a second before a fresh clump of snow was thrown right in his face.

"Gyaa!" Inuyasha sputtered and glared at Sesshoumaru unable to punish the girl for simply following orders.

"Fuck, the wards still have some hold over him." Sesshoumaru cursed again when a thought occurred to him. "Inuyasha! What about that new tunnel? Is it possible for you to get out that way?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Could barely fit my arm inside let alone crawl through it."

Sesshoumaru growled as he searched the walls carefully for any possible way that they could get Inuyasha out safely. If not for the wards, then Inuyasha could just stay in the cave until the next night of the new moon; able to have meals curiously of Rin but the wards ongoing threat to consume Inuyasha's Mind and youki completely obliterated that idea.

"Hell, Inuyasha!"

Another squawk sounded as Rin threw another pile of snow on him.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "See if you can stand yet, perhaps moving around will keep the ward's power at bay for a little while longer.

Inuyasha nodded as he struggled to get to his feet.

Rin moved forward to help, allowing Inuyasha to use her small body as a brace and pull himself to his feet.

Sesshoumaru released his held breath and continued to search for any possible answer to get his mate out of the latest hopeless situation he had gotten into.

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha whimpered. "I don't think that there's any way for me to get out of here!"

"Don't say that!" Sesshoumaru snapped. "You've found your self in and have gotten out of worse situations before."

He paused and glanced down at the distraught youko. "Hasn't he?" he couldn't stop from asking.

Shippo nodded and Sesshoumaru was surprised to feel the child climb up his left side and clung to his shoulder just above his empty sleeve.

He glanced at the child but Shippo refused to look at him. Nodding in understanding, he continued to try and come up with a plan that would save the one they both cared for.

Inuyasha on the other side of the wards was glad to see that Shippo and Sesshoumaru were now, if not friends, at lest tolerating each other.

He was glad that they had found common ground. Granted he wished the common ground wasn't trying to save his sorry hide from being killed by anti-demon wards that he had lived with for months now but who was his to complain?

He only hopped that if he was killed by this absurd situation that Sesshoumaru would see to Shippo's upbringing.

He laughed slightly at the stupidity of it all. All those youkai, ningens, Naraku, hell even Kagome out for his blood and here he was, done in by an old ward placed years centuries before he had even been born!

"Damn it! It's not fair!" he shouted.

The other three looked at him with worry but he simply laughed. Sesshoumaru was frightened to hear a slight edge of hysteria in that laugh.

Inuyasha was no fool. He new it was only a matter of time before sleep and then the wards would overtake him. It was inevitable.

"Damn it, hanyou! Don't you fucking give up now!" Sesshoumaru shouted at him. "We didn't go though all the trouble getting you up only to have you pass out now!"

"You can do it!" Shippo shouted encouragingly as well.

Inuyasha sighed, knowing that as long as they wouldn't give up, they would not allow him to do so either.

"Inuyasha-sama?" Rin asked hesitantly.

"It's okay," he assured her. "Let's just keep walking."

Rin nodded as she tried to shift Inuyasha into a more comfortable position.

Inuyasha tried to alleviate some of his weight off the small girl but it proved to be his undoing as his limited balance was thrown off and he stumbled forward.

Sesshoumaru could feel his heart stop beating completely as he watched Inuyasha wavered and began falling.

Rin cried out in dismay and tired desperately to pull Inuyasha back towards her but it was to late.

Sesshoumaru's heart didn't just stop beating but froze completely as Inuyasha fell forward straight for the wards.

"NO!" Three voices shouted in despair at the sight before them.

Sesshoumaru cried out in pure fear as Inuyasha reached the wards…

…and passed right though them into Sesshoumaru's surprised embrace.

"Fuck!" Sesshoumaru cursed again as he tied to balance Inuyasha's dead weight barely noticing Shippo fall off his shoulder with a dull thud.

Inuyasha moaned in pain. "Sesshoumaru?" he slurred, "what?"

"No clue," Sesshoumaru bit out as he hitched Inuyasha over his shoulder and carried Inuyasha back to the main cavern and as far away from the wards as possible.

Inuyasha had a very nice view of the Taiyoukai's ass before darkness finally swallowed him whole.


	29. Lemons Abound

Forty-Eight hours later Inuyasha was still passed out on his futon and Sesshoumaru was ready to kill the kids if they so much as looked at him funnily.

It didn't help that between the three of them, none of them knew the slightest thing about cooking and when Inuyasha woke, he would find his food stores supporting a rather large dent.

The first twenty-four hours after the terrible night the children hadn't so much as moved from Inuyasha's bedside. Something Sesshoumaru couldn't fault them for as he had sat right along side them

But by day two, Sesshoumaru had determined that since Inuyasha had survived the first day, that he should have been past any danger points and was merely now in a healing sleep. With that announcement and the weight of worry for the hanyou lifted from their tiny shoulders, the two children's pent up energy began to build to the surface and nether of them could sit still for more that four minuets.

Glaring at them had worked for the first few hours but in the shared worry for Inuyasha, he had to admit that he and the youko had come to some sort of understanding. Sesshoumaru absently rolled a small round object as he considered the young kitsune.

Shippo knew an opportunity when he saw one and was now beginning to talk back to the older Youkai. Granted it wasn't like his daily goofing around with Inuyasha but Sesshoumaru had to admire his gumption to stand up to _him_. It was pride that would get the kit killed if he didn't cut it out but still Sesshoumaru had to admit that boy was less wary around him now.

He wondered if, after Inuyasha was awake, he should begin to terrorize the kit more than usual to put the fear back into those eyes but quickly dismissed it knowing it would take some burden off Inuyasha if he and the child got along.

He didn't have to _like_ it, but for Inuyasha's sake, he would endure.

It helped that Shippo spent most of his time with Rin and mostly left him alone.

He bit into his snack he had scrounged from the back stores, one of the few things that didn't require cooking, and continued his vigil over the younger man.

He didn't know how soon it would be before Inuyasha awoke, but he was determined to be there when he did.

Inuyasha and he had a lot of stuff to discuss starting with how he had fallen through the wards.

It had been so odd. Neither Sesshoumaru nor Shippo had felt any shift in the wards but Inuyasha had clearly been able to pass right though them and with out the accompanying light show.

A slight moan turned his thoughts back from their wandering as he watched Inuyasha's arm move to rub his forehead.

"Oh god, what ran over me?" Inuyasha groaned as he forced his eyes to open slightly. Allowing his eyes to adjust before focusing on the person next to him.

"Fuck," Inuyasha moaned as he rolled over away from Sesshoumaru's blank visage. "Tell me it was all just a dream…"

Sesshoumaru frowned and taking his glass of water poured the entire contents over his chosen's head. Inuyasha sputtered in shock as he stared at a smirking Sesshoumaru.

"Are we awake now?" Sesshoumaru inquired.

"You prick!" Inuyasha growled as he shook the water off and tilted his head to get the liquid out of his ears.

"Why thank you." Sesshoumaru said in all seriousness. "I do believe that is the nicest thing you've said to me yet."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he threw his damp pillow aside and bundled up a corner of his comforter. "You're insane," he told him.

"I do try."

Inuyasha could help himself as his lips quirked upward at Sesshoumaru's antics. "You enjoy torturing me don't you?"

"It's my mission in life."

"Brilliant, dose this mean I'll never be rid of ya?"

Sesshoumaru felt a surge of hope build but at the same time dread filled him as he tried to determine how to broach the second item he wanted to speak to Inuyasha about when the two terrors arrived in their standard loud fashion.

"Inuyasha!"

"Inuyasha-sama!"

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelped as he was tackled from both side in a tight hug.

"You're okay!" Shippo told him.

"Well, I'm better than I was," he confirmed as he gently pushed the two off of him.

"Inuyasha-sama! Rin is so glad that you're better!" Rin smiled at him happily as she threw her arms around his neck.

Sesshoumaru made a pointed cough and Rin's happy veneer dimmed somewhat. "Um, Inuyasha-sama?"

Inuyasha turned from his questioning look at his sibling who was completely ignoring the situation as he fluffed up a new pillow for him when the girl climbed into his lap and leaned forward towards one of his ears. "Rin is sorry for shoving snow down your pants," the child whispered.

Inuyasha couldn't help but release a roar of laughter at the girl's apology as he hugged her tightly before trying to fix her inside out robe. "Well, I suppose I can't fault ya for it," he told her. "It did get the job done."

Rin smiled proudly and held out a small slice of food. "Would you like some?" she asked politely.

Inuyasha stared at the offering before shaking his head politely. "You finish it honey," he told her as he glared at Sesshoumaru.

"Why don't the two of you go out and play in the snow some more."

The two children nodded obediently to Inuyasha's suggestion and Sesshoumaru frowned at the level of respect that Inuyasha had managed to get out of their ungrateful little hides.

"Sesshoumaru!"

The youkai snapped to attention as he looked at the irritated man. "Just how long was I out for and what the hell have you been allowing the children to be doing?"

"Allowing?" Sesshoumaru shouted at him as he kicked aside yet another runaway sphere. "I haven't been _allowing_ them to do _anything_! They're quite able to do whatever they damn well want. I'm not their bloody babysitter!"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "dare I ask what you've been eating?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged, "whatever doesn't require to be boiled, fried or cooked."

Inuyasha huffed as he collapsed back down again. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

They lay in silence for a while watching as Kuufuku ran past them chasing yet another rolling item.

Inuyasha shook his head at the sight again and turned to ask Sesshoumaru something when the question died in his throat.

For the first time since he awoke, he could see just how haggard Sesshoumaru really was. His normally pristine hair was a tangled mess and hung in long clumps around his slouched shoulders. His clothes were almost as wrinkled as his brow and the dark circles under his eyes were deeper than Inuyasha's had ever been on those sleepless nights on the run as a child.

Inuyasha reached forward and placed his had over the tightly clenched fist on the Taiyoukai's knee.

Sesshoumaru looked up and Inuyasha gave him a full smile. "Thank you for saving me," he whispered.

Sesshoumaru's face immediately donned a haughty look as he sneered down his nose. "Well don't get used to it. I can't let you die," Inuyasha waited for the standard "only I am allowed to kill you" line when Sesshoumaru surprised him by finishing with a "you're the only one who can keep those brats under control."

Inuyasha stared at him in surprise before allowing a smirk to cross his features. "Ran you ragged huh?"

"How do you keep them under control?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

Inuyasha grinned. "Bribery. Lots and Lots of bribery."

Sesshoumaru stared in shock. "What, no death threats?"

"Only pushes them to try harder."

Sesshoumaru thought about it for a moment. "I think I'm beginning to understand what all those 'loans' I always see my councilmen accepting is about."

Inuyasha laughed. "If there was anything I learned from my human relatives is that no one is below a bit of bribery."

Sesshoumaru blinked in surprise at Inuyasha's announcement. He had never before spoken of his mother's people. "Bribe the cook for more sweets, did you?"

Inuyasha laughed bitterly. "Hell no, never would go near that harpy in a million years. She'd soon as kill me as to look at me for tainting her kitchen. No," Inuyasha frowned. "I saw a lot of different things hiding in the shadows."

Sesshoumaru frowned, a bit distraught and disturbed by the conversation but didn't want to point it out to Inuyasha.

They sat in silence just listening to the two children playing outside as Sesshoumaru continued eating his fruit.

"So how did you get me through the wards?" Inuyasha finally asked. Sesshoumaru's head whipped around to stare at Inuyasha in disbelief and Inuyasha felt a surge of panic begin to swell. "It was you who got me out, right?" he demanded. "I mean- I figured you managed to deactivate it or something."

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "The wards haven't so much as twitched let a lone change that I could see."

"But, then how did I get out?" Inuyasha demanded.

Sesshoumaru lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know."

"But that's impossible," Inuyasha murmured in astonishment. "Isn't it?"

Again a shrug, "I have learned that when it comes to you, Inuyasha, even the heavens can rain food from the skies. Nothing is impossible."

Inuyasha frowned as he rolled another brightly colored fruit off his futon and watched as Kuufuku balanced himself onto of yet _another_ one as he rolled it around the room towards an ever-growing pile.

"Well," Inuyasha cleared his throat nervously as he picked up one of Kuufuku's run-a-way's. "There defiantly enough of _these_ laying about aren't there?"

Sesshoumaru frowned in annoyance. "Those things just keep appearing. I can't for the life of me figure out where the children are getting them."

Inuyasha frowned. "I don't think the kids could find these if they wanted to," he told him as he eyed Kuufuku's two-foot tall pile.

Sesshoumaru took another tentative bite of his own slice, "Just what _are_ they?" he asked curiously. "They don't taste like any fruit I've ever eaten before and it certainly has never been served in the palace."

Inuyasha smirked. "From what Kagome told me, they're from a foreign country and the juices are mainly used with sugar to make a sweetly sour drink. Let me think," Inuyasha paused. "I think they're called lemons."

And while Inuyasha was explaining to Sesshoumaru the different uses of lemons and laughing at the Inu's sour expression as he ate the bitter fruit, a simple lemon farmer stared in disbelief at all his denuded lemon trees while a frustrated author bangs her head in complete frustration at the pure denseness of the two happily oblivious youkai's.


	30. A River of Feeling

Inuyasha watched intently as Sesshoumaru tried to follow his directions on how to make dinner and sighed as yet another cloud of smoke rose from the Youkai's direction.

"Tried" was the key word. Inuyasha couldn't believe what he was seeing as he watched Sesshoumaru bungle yet another simple dish.

He had assumed that since he always saw Sesshoumaru traveling as he always did, he had obviously assumed that the Youkai possessed _some_ cooking skills seeing as how he was still breathing. Obviously, Inuyasha assumed too much.

This would make attempt number four as Inuyasha bemoaned his three destroyed pots and one surprisingly dented frying pan.

Who knew that Sesshoumaru could be so clumsy in the kitchen?

As the taller man struggled to make something decent, or at least edible, the children were busy slurping down their lemonades and giggling as Sesshoumaru waved the smoke away from his face.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing?" Sesshoumaru demanded pointing an accusing finger at the pot as if it was some how the cookware's fault. "All it dose is smoke!"

Inuyasha frowned as he made his way out of bed to make his way to the fire and laid claim to the saucepan. "Lord of all you see, ruler of over a hundred lands and yet the great taiyoukai is done in by the simple task of boiling water."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "You shouldn't be out of bed so soon," he criticized.

"Let me think," Inuyasha huffed. "Get out of bed risking strain on my injuries but have a full stomach or stay in bed and waste away by starvation." he paused dramatically and Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes as the children snickered. "Hmm, that's a tough one."

Sighing, Sesshoumaru threw up his hand in defeat. "Okay, I surrender. It's all yours."

Inuyasha smiled triumphantly. "Gee, if I knew that all it took to bring you down to your knees was a simple home made meal I could have defeated you ages ago."

Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha delicious rump moved about the room. ' _That isn't the only thing to bring me to my knees._ '

Dinner was quick work for Inuyasha and soon the cave was filled with vibrant chatting as the children scrambled to tell Inuyasha all he had missed over the past two days.

Sesshoumaru's first instinct was to yell at the two to pipe down but for once, bit his tongue and allowed the children their time with Inuyasha minus any of his usual biting retorts.

As he watched Inuyasha's happy face a feeling of pure contentment filled him Everything was all right and it was enough for Sesshoumaru as he tucked into his delicious, albeit charred, supper.

He would never admit to how badly a scare the warded room had caused him. He couldn't believe that he had nearly lost his youki's chosen mate before he himself had even realized let alone admitted his feelings. It was quite humbling actually. He had always heard of the expression "not knowing what you had until it was gone".

Always having things handed to him on a silver platter, Sesshoumaru had never before felt such a deep fear.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head he concentrated instead on picking off the chard pieces of his food and continued to finish dinner.

Never once did he notice Inuyasha's multitude of worried glances as the younger youkai wondered just what it was that had happened to Sesshoumaru to cause him to be so silent.

Later that night, Sesshoumaru sighed gratefully as he burrowed down in his blankets after listening to Inuyasha taking such a long time tucking the children into bed. They had both demanded two stories each before finally allowing themselves to go to sleep and Sesshoumaru had to suffer through all four of Inuyasha's crazy idea of stories.

It was grateful to finally be able to just relax and allow all his worries to drift off.

"Sesshoumaru?"

-If only for a moment.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Sesshoumaru demanded without turning over.

He could feel Inuyasha behind him and could smell the scent of squeezed lemons from the hanyou. ' _Fuck,_ ' he cursed as his youki perked up very intently at the presences of the answering youki.

He could hear Inuyasha fumbling behind him before he felt a sharp breeze of cold air until something large, warm and incredibly tempting slid in behind him. Sesshoumaru nearly bolted right then and there.

"INUYASHA!" he hissed loudly as he turned to glare at the man behind him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"It's cold," Inuyasha said simply, "and we have a _lot_ to talk about."

Sesshoumaru frowned and decided the best course of action was to completely ignore the tempting creature behind him.

"You are not getting out of this by ignoring the situation!" Inuyasha told him.

' _Oh believe me, I can't ignore_ this!' Sesshoumaru thought in frustration. He wondered absently if he could smother himself with his own pillow before he tackled the oblivious koinu.

"Sesshoumaru, why did you demand this truce? What is there for you to gain?" Inuyasha frowned as Sesshoumaru stayed stubbornly silent. "I've thought about it and thought about it and since when do you ever care about your image? Or what anyone else thought?"

"I do care about the Image the Family of the Great Inu Taiyoukai presents." Sesshoumaru finally spoke up and mentally groaned at himself for his weakness in giving in to the rapid questions.

"Great!" Inuyasha growled in exasperation. "Do you mind sharing this wonderful information or are you just going to leave me wandering in the dark as usual?"

"You wouldn't understand," Sesshoumaru snapped as he tried to bury his over excited youki under a rather large mental rock.

Inuyasha frowned at the broad back before him. "And just what won't I understand?"

Sesshoumaru growled but refused to elaborate his thoughts turning inwards onto events he thought long buried.

He hadn't thought of his childhood in ages. The whispers the eyes full of loathing knowing that he could very well be their next lord and master as he walked the halls.

The multitude of scathing remarks at how unworthy their current lord was. That there was a rumor he took a _human_ for a mate and that she was _breeding_.

The looks that he would be just like his father and become weak. Sesshoumaru had vowed that he would _never_ be weak.

"Damn it, Sesshoumaru. Talk to me!" Inuyasha whispered furiously in an attempt not to wake the children. "Things are beginning to happen and I think that there's got to be a reason for it! There always is!"

A golden eye peered over his shoulder to look at the determined hanyou. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Everything!" Inuyasha scowled. "It's just like before when I knew that mother was dying and that I was in danger if I continued living in the human lands." Sesshoumaru twitched. "Or when I first came across the legend of the Sacred Jewel and that led me to meet Kikyou. Or when I met Kagome after she released me from the tree and that damn well…"

' _Well_?' Sesshoumaru wondered absently. "Just what are you blabbering about?"

"Damn it Sesshoumaru, I'm being serious." Inuyasha shoved on his shoulder angrily. "You can't tell me that you coerced me into this little arrangement on a whim. There's something going on!"

Sesshoumaru frowned at his unwilling but very tempting bed partner as he thought about the things that had led them to this point.

It was true that things had moved from the strange into the land of complete bizarre rather quickly. Worried about his youki and succumbing to his more primal needs where Inuyasha was concerned had taken the fore front of his mind but as he thought back, it had seemed rather odd that very first night in the cave, damp from the autumn rain and the strange realization that his own locked transformation occurred on the same night as his brothers.

"Then what do you think it is?" Sesshoumaru demanded. "Some demented demon out there playing havoc with our lives?"

"Well how the fuck should _I_ know?" Inuyasha demanded. "I've spent my entire life just surviving. I never stopped to learn the finer points of my demon heritage."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as turned over onto his back and glared at him. "Couldn't you have thought of a better time to have this discussion?"

Inuyasha shrugged, "didn't want the kids to wander in on this. I don't know about Rin, but Shippo can be smart." He paused. "Well, when it comes to keeping secrets from him at least."

Sesshoumaru scowled at that thought. "I doubt that."

Inuyasha glared at him but decided not to argue about Shippo for the moment. "So what do you think? There has got to be something going on."

"What? You think someone knew that we would find out about each other on the moonless nights? That some one knew that we would find this cave? That some one _knew_ that we would end up _living_ here and warded the cave before hand?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Possible…"

"Hah! I'll have you know that those wards are at _least_ five hundred years old if not more. This was probably a safe haven from some long ago war."

"Everything is a battle to you," Inuyasha stated.

Sesshoumaru waved his hand absently as he rolled back around away from the enticing man in red. "'S what I'm trained for."

Inuyasha's curiosity peeked, but he said nothing. They laid there in silence for a few moments. A cloud of tension steadily starting to creep upon the two and Sesshoumaru scowled as Inuyasha continued to lie beside him.

"Don't you have your _own_ bed to return to?" he demanded.

Inuyasha was silent for a beat. "Your's is closer to the fire."

"Great," Sesshoumaru scoffed and tried to inch a little further from the hanyou. ' _I should get a fucking medal for self restraint._ ' His youki was annoying the hell out of him as his instincts chanted 'mate' merrily over and over again. ' _Fuck._ '

Inuyasha, oblivious to Sesshoumaru's inner turmoil sighed at youkai's very unsubtle attempt to move but didn't mind it anymore. It was actually quite nice hunkered down in front of a fire on a cold winter night and he wasn't in a hurry to return to his own, cold bed.

Much nicer having an extra warm body too, more heat generated.

"So…" Inuyasha finally broke the quiet. "Where were you for all those days?"

Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped open and he mentally cursed Inuyasha's inquisitive mind. ' _Was it to much to hope that he had forgotten that particular fact_?' "Out," he replied cryptically.

"Okay, I'll bite. 'Out' _where_?" Inuyasha pressed.

"Oh, what does it matter where I was? I'm back now aren't I?" Sesshoumaru argued.

Inuyasha mulled his statement over for a moment. "I suppose you're right…"

Sesshoumaru sighed in relief that Inuyasha was willing to drop his unscheduled jaunt in the forest. He had just closed his eyes, determined that he would fall asleep this time when Inuyasha piped up again.

"So why did you run out in the first place?"

Sesshoumaru's temper began to boil and fear that he would not escape from Inuyasha before the hanyou pulled out his secret. "What business of it of yours?" he snapped.

"Well maybe because you ran out right in the middle of our conversation?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically. "What did I say? Why did you suddenly run out of the cave? Was it something I did or something?"

Sesshoumaru's idea of suicide by pillow was beginning to look really tempting, but he couldn't let Inuyasha think that his actions had been the result of his own stupidity. "No, it wasn't anything you did."

"Well something had to have happened for you to bold out like that."

Sesshoumaru knew that Inuyasha would not allow this line of questioning to drop, especially now that he had managed to get something out of him. "I just realized something, all right? Now can we drop it?"

Inuyasha was quiet for a whole second. "What did you realize?"

Sesshoumaru swallowed heavily. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Inuyasha repeated. "Oh for the love of- just spit it out? Will you?"

Sesshoumaru was undone. His youki bouncing around like a mad rabbit, the scent of Inuyasha so close behind him, demanding to know the very thing he dreaded telling him in fear of the hanyou's reaction.

If Inuyasha wanted to know what troubled the Inu Taishou of the west so badly he would tell him.

Or rather show him.

Sesshoumaru whirled around, shoving Inuyasha flat on his back as he towered over him.

"Sesshoumaru, what-?" Inuyasha managed to get out before Sesshoumaru shocked him with the _last_ thing Inuyasha had ever suspected.

Sesshoumaru leaned down and covered Inuyasha's mouth with his own.

The smaller youkai froze under the feeling of firm lips upon is own, pressing demandingly against his own, a sharp fang bit harshly into his soft flesh and he shuddered as Sesshoumaru's hand came upward from his shoulder to gently stroke a thumb against his cheek.

Sesshoumaru was starting to finally relax when suddenly he found him bodily thrown half way across the room and slammed into the wall with enough force to knock the air from his lungs.

His vision beginning to blur, Sesshoumaru nursed his bruised jaw and watched as a red blur ran out the cave into the whiteness beyond.

"Well that could have been worse," Sesshoumaru muttered. "he could have had Tetsusaiga."


	31. What Now?

The youkai stared down at the horrid sight before him.

It took all his strength of will not to run fleeing in terror from the mangled, twisted shape that was curdling before him in all its revolting glory. Never before, in all his time of travels, encountering the mass hordes of crazed and bloodthirsty youkai, could anything ever put such fear into his heart.

There had never been a single, solitary thing that he had ever witnessed that was so frightening, so disturbing…

…So very, very burnt.

"We're supposed to eat this?" Shippo inquired cynically as he poked at the mound of charred rock on his plate that Sesshoumaru passed off as food.

"Oh shut up and eat your breakfast," Sesshoumaru snarled as he dumped another armful of destroyed cookware into the designated washing barrel. ' _Breakfast_ ,' he determined, ' _is a frightening ordeal indeed_.'

"Rin's food tastes funny," Rin's voice was filled with disappointment.

"Sure you still have your tongue?" Shippo whispered.

"I would suggest you bite yours youko, before I cut it out." Sesshoumaru's eyes were filled with barely suppressed rage and Shippo wisely stayed silent.

' _Finally,_ ' Sesshoumaru breathed a sigh in relief, ' _peace_.'

"Why isn't Inuyasha here?" Shippo demanded behind him.

' _Crap_.' Sesshoumaru could feel his eye beginning to twitch. "I told you he left to go hunting."

"Seems to me he's the only one who ever does anything around here," Shippo muttered.

A carving knife slammed down into the wood of the table, neatly severing the dinner plate in two. Shippo "eeped" in fright as Rin simply scooted farther back out of harms way.

"You could very well go after him you know," Sesshoumaru growled.

Shippo shook his head wildly.

"That's what I though," Sesshoumaru reclaimed the knife and frowned at the halved plate. "Fuck," he muttered.

Rin giggled but said nothing of the destroyed item when gold eyes quickly focused on her. "Rin wants to play in the snow!" she said instead.

"You have chores too you know, it's not _just_ Inuyasha." Shippo gulped as the eyes turned to him. "You, go feed the dragon. Rin, put the beds away."

Rin nodded and set off to do her task with out a fuss. Sesshoumaru was not so lucky with the kit.

"ME?" Shippo squealed in indignation. "Feed your fat, flying lizard? He's got two heads you know! He'd sooner eat _me_ for breakfast!"

"One could only hope," Sesshoumaru drawled under his breath.

"But you can't do this!" Shippo wailed.

Sesshoumaru leveled a look at him and Shippo suddenly remembered that this particular Inu was not a youkai to be messed with- at least for now. The small kitsune scuttled out of the cave as fast as his little legs could carry him and hopefully it was to the little pen that housed An and Un to do as he was told.

' _Little brat_ ,' Sesshoumaru scowled as he surveyed the destroyed cutlery. Letting out his breath in a great, depressing "whoosh", he began the vast undertaking of cleaning up.

It actually was methodical and mind numbing. It was no wonder that Inuyasha cleaned so often.

' _Damn_ ,' he cursed in annoyance. ' _Can't even go three seconds with out thinking that blasted hanyou's name. Oh hell. Years of nothing, decades of ignoring him and all I do is spend little under half a year with the brat and he becomes the primary focus of my disturbed little thoughts…not that it maters much when he finally comes back to_ kill _me_!'

He sighed again. It was official. The night before could not have gone any worse. Two steps from a total meltdown was about as bad as any one could get. ' _Feh_ ,' he scoffed using Inuyasha's coin of phrase, ' _went down like the proverbial rock._ ' He looked down at the table and the uneaten reminisces of breakfast. ' _Speaking of rocks, wonder if we could use these as paperweights once they cool down_?'

' _Oh hell, I'm losing my mind._ ' A sudden noise drew Sesshoumaru's eyes to his still laid out futon and the furry creature nestled in his pillow. ' _Then again, is that so surprising_?'

There was a satisfying squeal of terror as the knife buried itself halfway into the wall with a pleasing "thunk" right above the rat's head. Sesshoumaru itched to finally do away with the creature but he knew just _knew_ that it would only push Inuyasha to kill him faster so Sesshoumaru knew it wouldn't do to kill the thing in front of Rin. She'd just tattle to Inuyasha when ' _if_ ,' he contradicted bitterly, he returned.

Fucking kids.

Sighing, he continued to scrub the thick layer of grim with renewed vigor only to draw back his arm and release a hiss of pain. Bringing his hand upward he surveyed the damage to one of his elegant claws. ' _These can tear through flesh. Pierce the strongest metal and all it takes is one damn_ pot _to fucking undo them_.' He vaguely wondered if he brought along his diamond tipped filer before biting off the rest of the chipped piece and got right bake to scrubbing.

Spitting out the taste of soap, Sesshoumaru searched for a rather dull spot on the wall to focus on. ' _He's never coming back,_ ' he finally told himself in a droll tone. ' _I have finally done what I have been longing to do since I first heard of his imminent birth. I finally,_ finally, _drove him away for good. Well, huzza. Go me._ '

Sesshoumaru scowled, ' _just wish he took the damn rat._ '

He heaved another sigh and dropped the two halves of the plate into the now murky water.

' _Oh hell, just who am I kidding_?' he thought bitterly. ' _If he comes back after last night, it will be a fucking miracle._ '

Fiercely racking the scouring brush across the pots and pans, the Inu vaguely wondered how it came to be that he had so utterly and completely lost control of his senses the night before. ' _It's one thing for my youki to recognise Inuyasha as its mate; it's another thing_ entirely _for me to do the same._ '

The brushing began to slow as his mind conjured up the images of Inuyasha from the night before. The image of Inuyasha, whose downy soft ears were as memorizing as any woman would ever dream of being. Those eyes, that were a mirror image of his own but yet so different.

There were images burned into his mind of Inuyasha from past encounters, face coated in blood as he fought off youkai after youkai; images of the hanyou charging at him, eyes full of furry and a wild in anticipation as they fought to the death.

' _Well_ , _not as if it really ever_ was _to the death. We're both still breathing._ ' Sesshoumaru groaned and wondered if putting his head in the water before him would be better than thinking at all.

He had always adored the look of Inuyasha in battle. Had always chalked up the feeling to the fact that he too was a total battle nut and the thought of anyone in the middle of a fight was a sight to behold. But now with his youki in such turmoil, he began to wonder if that had truly been the case.

Inuyasha in battle truly had been a sight to behold but was that really all there was to the hanyou? Until they had settled on a temporary accord, Sesshoumaru had never really even _seen_ Inuyasha when he was not fighting battle.

He was always looking for those silly little pink crystals with that rag-tag group of his.

' _Humans. What the hell was such the big deal about humans anyway_?' he wondered. ' _Rin not withstanding, they're really a very hypocritical lot full of bigotry and hate…_ ' Sesshoumaru scowled as he removed some of the now clean plates and looked around for any sort of towel to dry them. ' _And clearly they do not care for Inuyasha as much as he believes if those bruises were anything to go by_.'

He growled as he dropped the plate on what he now believed was the sought after dishtowel remembering what Inuyasha had said of the thrice-cursed priestess.

Rin had paused in her task and looked up at the multitude of sounds emerging from his corner and Sesshoumaru shook his head before returning to the dishes.

' _Okay,_ ' he scolded himself. ' _We are not going there. Think of other things. Think_ " _happy thoughts_ ",' he looked at the barrel. ' _Like why the hell four people need so many dishes._ '

Reclaiming the scrub brush for the second go-around, Sesshoumaru decided that he had to figure out just where he went wrong the night before. ' _Perhaps if I conclude as to where I lost my sanity- er, nerve, I could apol-apolo- aw hell, I could fix it._ '

His thoughts then wandered to the images of Inuyasha from the night before. Remembering Inuyasha climbing into his pallet, the feel of the heat radiating against his back from the body so near his own.

He remembered Inuyasha's shocked expression as he stared up at him cheeks flushed a tantalizing hue. Those golden eyes staring up at him, the glow of the fire making them flicker with an intense light.

The feeling of those lips under his very own, so moist and yet firm. The pure taste that was Inuyasha, a sweetish sour flavor that both enticed and haunted him. He could feel the small koinu fangs underneath those tantalizing lips. The hot desire too force open that delicious mouth to explore further… deeper…

Sesshoumaru groaned as he could feel the obvious pull of pressure in his groin. ' _Oh_ fuck,' he moaned. He braced himself against the barrel and tried to take a deep, calming breath. ' _This is_ so _not good._ '

He could hear Rin behind him; playing with the damn rat as she did moved the large pillows. 'Really _not good._ '

He wondered briefly if he could get by the girl and make his way down to the privacy of the storage tunnel with out her noticing his… problem.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" the small voice floated behind him.

' _Oh Kami, now what_?' he wondered. "Yes," his voice squeaked and Sesshoumaru quickly coughed to clear his throat before he tried again. "Yes Rin?"

"Rin is done."

"Oh, good," Sesshoumaru hissed through gritted teeth. "You can go play in the snow if you like."

Rin let out a cheer as she bundled herself up before tromping out the door into the white. Unfortunately, as Rin went out, another entered shaking snow out of his fur.

' _Oh can my life get any worse_?' Sesshoumaru moaned as he watched the small kit shed his large scarf. The Inu tried to shift slightly very grateful for his love of wearing baggy pants.

Now if only he could get past the kitsune.

Shippo looked up suddenly and actually glared at him. _Glared_ at him. Him! Sesshoumaru! The High Lord OF the West.

This little no nothing kitsune who still bore only a single tail was scowling at him as if Sesshoumaru were nothing more than a mere bug in need of squashing.

"It bit my tail," the youko told him blandly.

Sesshoumaru gawked for a moment before he finally burst out laughing. "Go fat, flying Lizard!" he cackled.

Shippo's glare darkened. "It's not funny!"

The Inu was still laughing.

Shippo huffed as he plunked down at he table and glared at the now cold rocks. "What are we suppose to do with these?" Shippo asked as he poked at them aimlessly.

Sesshoumaru managed to get himself under control, berating himself for losing control for a second time in twenty-four hours. He wondered if the kit had heard the slight edge of hysteria in his voice when he was laughing.

' _Oh Kami_ ,' Sesshoumaru thought. ' _I think that the strain is getting to me._ ' He wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that his youki was fluctuating so rapidly with the bombarding feelings for Inuyasha.

' _Hell_ ,' Sesshoumaru tossed the towel aside. ' _Why the hell am I getting so worked up over the dang Hanyou_?' He shifted and started putting the wooden utensils away as he tried to desperately ignore his still present erection.

His mind suddenly turned to the strange pulls of his youki whenever his blasted half brother was around.

' _Okay, I realized that my youki has never before acted this way when I was at that lake and for some reason it's treating the koinu as a mate,_ ' he thought. ' _It's never before acted this strongly for_ any _potential mate. Not even when I took other lovers._ ' He frowned as he studied the thought.

' _Oh hell_ ,' he realized. ' _When was the last time_ I _went into heat_?'

Sesshoumaru racked his brain as he tried to remember how long it had been since he felt that pull of intense hormones. The raw need to fuck any Youkai as if there were no tomorrow.

' _Oh SHIT_!' Sesshoumaru dropped the plate as his mind counted backwards to his usual heat. It should have been two months ago. After his agreement with Inuyasha, before he stubbornly moved in with the hanyou. He realized that he hadn't gone into his normal heat. Not once.

It was something that had never happened to him before. Not once in all the centuries he'd lived and it was something that Sesshoumaru had never, _ever_ expected would happen to him.

He had been told that there could be a day some time far in the future when his heat would fail to arrive.

Hell, even his father had pulled him aside when he was reaching three hundred and told him that if he ever felt himself ready for a life mate, his youki would start to search for a compatible youki to be his mate.

When it found that youki, his heat would subside and only react towards his Recognized Mate. Meaning that Sesshoumaru would never again be attracted to any other Youkai than his chosen mate. A.K.A the Idiot Hanyou.

"Oh hell," Sesshoumaru groaned as another, more frightening realization hit him. That his youki would never relent until the two were properly bonded…

As in _soul_ bonded.

' _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_! _Fuck_!'

He growled and slammed his fist against the barrel. Shippo yelped in surprise but he ignored the child.

' _Damn, I knew I should have investigated when humans go into heat,_ ' Sesshoumaru looked around the little cave in total wonderment at the sudden insight. ' _But a Ningen doesn't_ have _a youki._ _Is it possible_?'

The Youkai started pacing the massive room, ignoring Shippo's curious gaze. ' _Ningen's have that_ reiki, _that silly spiritual power of theirs. So what the hell is my youki reacting to_?'

He turned back around, stepping over the few articles of clothing and multitude of toys the children had once again left scattered on the floor.

' _An Inu Youkai has never had a hanyou for a Youki Recognised Mate,_ _even more rarely do they take a human._ ' Sesshoumaru thought stubbornly. ' _I thought my youki's pull was just a standard reaction to Inuyasha's pheromones from being so close to him for the past months, not a_ Recognition _._ '

He pacing became more furious, more determined. ' _It was shocking enough that my youki was reacting to him in his half youkai state, but if it was when he was a human that caused my youki to fall into recognition, then what the hell does that tell me_?'

He glared at the sword, leaning against the wall of the cave once more forgotten by its master; a testament to Inuyasha's mental state when he bolted from the cave and more specifically Sesshoumaru.

' _It tells me that I'm fuck up, that's what it tells me._ '

He paused momentarily before continuing on, never noticing that Kuufuku had come to sit next to the small youko to join the kit's Inu watching.

' _That's not really true,_ ' he realized. ' _Father had tried to tell me something that night, right before he took off to rescue Inuyasha's mother. Could it be possible_?'

He shook his head, refusing to believe. But there was some part deep inside of him that told him that the conclusion his thoughts were heading towards was the right one. ' _But that wasn't a_ true _mating. Father was just allowing stupid emotions to get the better of him when he met Izayoi. It couldn't have been_ Recognition.'

He shook his head as he continued to pace. ' _That doesn't explain my youki's reaction to the idiot though._ '

He groaned as the implications of his youki's choice suddenly registered. ' _If Inuyasha is indeed my Recognized Mate, then it presents a whole new_ slew _of problems. Starting with the damn council._ '

He sighed as he turned and sat down across from his staring audience. ' _Hell, this was the whole point of this cave situation. I wanted to avoid the damn councils criticism._ '

He sighed in frustration as he slumped his head into his hand.

Shippo and Kuufuku looked at each other in silent question before looking back at the dejected Inu.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin suddenly came flouncing into the cave, her cheeks flushed from the cold. "What's for lunch?"

Sesshoumaru froze as he stared at the girl. "Lunch?"

Shippo groaned and brought up his hand against his forehead with a resounding smack.

' _Inuyasha_ , _you better come back soon_ ,' Sesshoumaru thought desperately. ' _If only so we all don't starve to death_.'


	32. Questioning Objectives

The figure stared down at the little village below him. The people were just getting up and starting their chores for the day. The men went to work in the woods while the women started the cleaning or any job that was their life.

It was so depressing.

Inuyasha would have done anything to belong to such a peaceful life.

The time spent with the humans had spoiled him in that. The longing to belong, to have a place that he could go back to and call home, gnawed at him. He had sat there, just watching for a whole day.

It was smaller that Kaede's, but was much more lively, more peaceful. People called out to one another in happy greeting. His human side pained with longing. While youkai's were solitary creatures by nature, humans were filled with the need to socialize.

Inuyasha sighed sadly as he watched the people moving about their daily lives. It was so disappointing to Inuyasha that he could only watch from afar, but he would never be allowed to participate in that life.

Well, not so much as yet another stone flew dangerously closer to him. He scowled down at the culprit who was currently re-arming himself. "Be gone foul demon!" the small voice shouted with false assurance. "I will protect my village from you evil deeds! Be gone! Before I unleash my fury!"

Inuyasha stared down in astonishment at the small child that could not be any older than ten human years that hurled yet another rock at him. It was amazing the boy could actually throw that high considering the branch he was sitting upon was more than half way up the old tree.

Inuyasha sighed and snatched the next rock out of midair and sent it hurtling back to its source. He grinned as the stone hit the boy dead center in his forehead.

The child gapped in surprise before turning back towards the hut and went running for his mother, yelling to her the demon in the tree was attacking.

Inuyasha sweat dropped and decided it was perhaps a promising idea to move to another branch. He glanced about nervously for the villagers to suddenly arm themselves and come running down to purge the foul youkai from their home.

So it was surprising when the mother finally emerged, being forcefully tugged by the boy as he dragged her towards the tree and pointed upwards.

The mother obligingly looked upward into the vacated tree before glaring down at the boy. "But he was _there_!" the child moaned. "I saw him! His eyes were glowing and he had horns on the top of his head!"

' _Horns_?' Inuyasha thought offended. ' _I am not some stupid ox demon…_ '

"Kaoru!" The mother snapped. "You will cease these silly stories about youkai and go do your chores! I will not have you disobey again!"

Inuyasha ginned as the mother grabbed the child by the collar and started dragging the protesting boy back to the little hut.

"But I'm not making it up! He really was there!"

Inuyasha smirked as he snatched a nut from the tree and sent it flying. The child yelped as it hit him in the back of the head and he whirled around to stare back at the trees.

Inuyasha couldn't help himself as he hooked the back of his knees on the branch and hung upside down to wave at sputtering Kaoru.

"MOTHER!"

"I'm not listening," the mother sang cheerily as the two disappeared into the darkness of the hut.

Inuyasha smiled as he righted himself and settled down to watch from his new vantage point. Honestly. It was no wonder that he could pilfer what he needed from these people. Not that he took anything these people really needed. Most of the items that furnished the cave were items that people had used over the years until the items were no longer needed or were replaced.

Hell, the little table he had stolen had belonged to Kaoru's house. The family had placed in the discard pile to be used as firewood after the father had finished carving a new table for the expanding family.

Inuyasha was grateful that the village was so considerate to one another that they always helped each other out with what they needed.

It made his job so much easier when he filched an assortment of spices and other forms of exotic foods from their stores.

If it was one thing he was grateful for from his time in the other human village was the fact that Kaede had taught him how to cook properly. He had always loved to cook and learn different ways to make the food he loved taste better.

Now if only Kagome would take lessons from the older woman. The one reason he loved that Ramen so much was the fact that Kagome didn't make it. Her foods were always over done, over spiced and she never once realized that as a Youkai, especially an Inu's tongue was more delicate than a humans.

Even the slightest amount of spice would explode in his mouth like an explosion of flavor. Shippo he supposed never complained because in the kit's eyes, Kagome could do no wrong.

' _NO_!' he suddenly yelled at himself. ' _I will not think of Kagome_!' His hand went briefly to the side of his face before he hunkered further down on his branch, folding his hands into his warm robe.

He scowled at the remembrance of those terrible times. ' _Well, Sesshoumaru never complained about my cooking_.' His shoulders slumped even more. ' _Two days without one thought about him and now it's all that's on my mind._ '

Inuyasha knew he was being childish. He had hoped that staying at the village he could avoid the subject but he knew he had to return to the cave some time-if only to save Sesshoumaru from the children.

Shippo could be quite the hell raiser once he got over his fear and apprehension of a person. And he had seen after he awoke from his unintended nap he could tell that the child had long ago gotten over his fear of the Taiyoukai.

He chuckled slightly. ' _Poor Sesshoumaru, Shippo can be devious. The youko's nature as a trickster._ '

He thought a moment. ' _Then again, the prick deserves it._ ' Inuyasha scowled as he ran his fingers over his lips. ' _Imagine him taking such liberties. Damn bastard. Thinks just because he's a_ " _great lord_ " _that he can do anything._ '

A fist connected with the trunk of the tree, shaking the branches slightly and sending squirrels scurrying away.

Inuyasha's mind had come to a multitude of conclusions as to why Sesshoumaru had done such an intamentSP? thing with him, _him_ of all people. One being that it really wasn't Sesshoumaru at all and perhaps was another of Naraku's tricks.

It made sense. Sesshoumaru hadn't been acting at all like himself ever since that night in the rain.

Inuyasha however scratched that reasoning off the list however. He knew his brother better than most people thought. Hell, he had always been obsessed with the idea of his brother ever since all those years ago his mother had told him the stories his father told her.

No, it truly was Sesshoumaru.

So if it was the jerk, why the hell did he kiss him?

' _There is no reason for him to do what he did,_ ' Inuyasha thought. ' _Hell, I'm technically underage, so there should be absolutely_ no _reason that any youkai would desire me. So what the hell is Sesshoumaru's problem_?'

He wondered if it was the same problem that Kagome always had. She had always acted as if she were his mate and wanted _him_ to act the same. Always wanting him to _be_ with her.

Inuyasha shook his head as he banished the odd thoughts out of his head and tried to focus on the issue at hand. ' _Sesshoumaru loathes me to the point of insanity, for him to come out of the blue and… …_ " _attack_ " _me is way beyond normal._ '

He sighed again as he ran over the other night in his mind, trying to see if there was some detail some little sign that he might have overlooked in his haste to run away.

' _Sesshoumaru has been acting strange ever since that time he was gone when Shippo arrived. But it couldn't be because of Shippo's sudden appearance. He was acting strange_ before _he left._ '

Inuyasha moaned as his thoughts went whirling around, ' _there is absolutely no reason as to why Sesshoumaru actually… …kissed me._ '

He looked at the swirling snow as it drifted to the ground. ' _Is there_?'

The soft sound of the village hummed around him as he sat there wondering. Allowing his mind to just listen to the noise and lull him into a sense of security.

' _I mean, why the hell was he kissing me_ now _of all times_?' he thought. ' _It's winter for crying out loud, there's no reason for him to go into heat or anything like that. So if he's not in a frenzy, then what the hell was it_?'

He scowled. ' _If he just wanted a fuck, I'm sure that there's plenty of bitches for him to screw back at the palace. There was absolutely_ no _reason for him to go after me._ '

He ran his fingers back across his lips as he remembered the feeling of Sesshoumaru's lips pressed against his. It had actually felt surprisingly good to have the larger Youkai's body towering above his own.

For one surprising moment, Inuyasha had felt completely safe.

That feeling had scared the daylights out of him.

For a hanyou always on the run, to have some one over him, restricting his movements, was always a bad thing. But for Inuyasha to feel comfortable underneath his brother, who was most defiantly a more powerful, dominant youkai was more frightening than Naraku ever was.

He had been relaxed and even had begun to hesitantly wanting to press back against the kiss when he had felt Sesshoumaru's hand move from his shoulder to his cheek, it was so gentle, so soft.

It was then that Inuyasha knew that it was wrong. That Sesshoumaru should not have been touching _him_.

' _It's not as if he wants_ me _or anything, I just happen to be the only person around,_ ' he told himself stubbornly. ' _He just wants to use me… right_?'

Inuyasha felt a sharp tug against his chest at the mere thought that Sesshoumaru was simply using him.

' _So what does he want with me_?'

Inuyasha sighed as he shifted into a more comfortable position as he thought all the way through from the beginning when he had first run into Sesshoumaru.

' _He was standing right there, and I was still only a child then. Why the hell didn't he do anything then_?'

He could remember the first time he saw Sesshoumaru and that strange "I will kill you" speech. He had been so excited when he first saw his brother that he could feel his very soul hum in excitement.

When he had met Sesshoumaru in some childish notion, he had really thought that Sesshoumaru had come to take him away. To bring him back to his fathers people and to train Inuyasha to be a noble warrior just as Sesshoumaru was.

The fact that the jerk just left him was a harsh slap of reality to the child.

It was far different than the picture his mother had painted of the young Inu Youkai. He wondered if his mother had perhaps embellished Sesshoumaru's good nature or something to that effect.

Perhaps it had been his father full of pride when he spoke to Izayoi about his eldest son, Inuyasha didn't know and truly didn't care.

It had been yet another lie that was spoon-fed to him in a long list of lies that made up his life.

Then that blasted meeting when Sesshoumaru was searching for Tetsusaiga, which Inuyasha noticed absently he had left behind… again...

It was a wonder he had survived all these years.

' _Then again, I never used a sword before. Just not use to the bloody thing._ ' It was amazing that people thought that he was able to master the sword so well when he first used it and defeated Sesshoumaru so soundly.

Something that Inuyasha once in a while felt very sorry for, yet Sesshoumaru didn't seem to care of the loss of his arm. So if Sesshoumaru didn't mind, the Inuyasha thought that it didn't really matter. He still was sorry though.

The truth of the matter was when it came to Tetsusaiga, the stupid sword talked to him.

Well not _literally_ but still when he held the sword he could see images of a masterful Inu Youkai using the different techniques against his enemy's. Some of the images were so complex that Inuyasha _knew_ that it would be decades before he could fully use the sword to it's maximum potential but at the same times the humans, and even the other youkai, thought that he had complete control over the blade.

' _Feh_ ,' he scoffed. ' _Idiots._ '

It wasn't until the incident with the third sword and the image of his father appeared did he even make the connection that it was his father that he was seeing.

It was actually very humbling.

He had always envied Sesshoumaru for actually _knowing_ their father and had seen the man that the whole Youkai Lands dubbed the Greatest Warrior of all times.

Inuyasha had wished that he had met his father at least once.

Izayoi had told him that his father was there on the day that he was born and held him for that brief moment before Izayoi fled her burning home.

She also told him it was his father who had named him…

Inuyasha had wondered later if his father was delirious from the pain when he named him.

That was another thing that Sesshoumaru had hated him for. He knew from Myouga that it was Sesshoumaru's mother and not their father who had named the Inu heir.

Inuyasha wondered why it was such a sore point with his brother. He actually _liked_ Sesshoumaru's name.

Sighing, Inuyasha flipped over onto his stomach allowing the warmth of the winter sun flow over him. ' _Why is my life always so complicated_?' he wondered.

' _Aw hell,_ ' he cursed. ' _What the hell am I going to say when I get back_?' then another thought occurred to him.

' _What if Sesshoumaru has already left_? _Returned to the palace and all those willing women_? _Oh fuck_!' Inuyasha bolted upright. ' _He would have taken Rin with him but Shippo may be alone._ '

He cursed again as he stood, wanting to see for himself that the kit was all right before logic settled in.

' _But what if he didn't leave_?' he mused. ' _Sesshoumaru may be a complete ass but I doubt he would leave the children alone… right_?'

Inuyasha plopped back down on his branch. ' _He is after all, a demon. Then again,_ ' he realized, ' _so is Shippo._ '

He sighed as his thoughts went whirling around in his head.

' _Oh Kami-Sama, I_ really _do not want to face the jerk_.' Inuyasha thought desperately. ' _He just wants to use me like some two bit…_ '

He squashed that train of thought firmly. ' _Though I understand that he is older and has other, more adult needs but hell, why the fuck does he have to drag me into it_?'

' _Hell, I'll have to face the bastard some time,_ ' Inuyasha told himself. ' _But maybe I'll wait just a few more days_.'

Inuyasha was brought out of his musing when the door to the hut suddenly opened again and the mother emerged from the building with a basket over her arm. She made her way into the woods with out even looking for any signs of danger and walked with determination in her steps.

He sat up attentively, wondering if he should follow her or not before sighing as he realized he would never forgive himself if she did not make it home safely.

Kaoru was right when he said demons walked these woods.

Quietly, he jumped from branch to branch, never once disturbing even the leaves as he followed silently.

The woman walked for a few minutes before finally coming to a halt in a small clearing still with in sight of the village. Inuyasha watched puzzled as she set the basket down before turning again and making her way back towards the village.

Inuyasha stared at her in complete confusion as she returned to her little home before curiosity finally got the better of him as he dropped down and tentatively lifted the cloth that covered the basket.

He gasped in shock at the multitude of food that filled the basket. Bread, fruit, cheese, even a few slices of salted meat filled it to the brim.

His eyes widened when he finally saw the scrap of parchment that was placed between the foods. He wondered if he should read it or if it would be better to just leave it alone. After all, this was probably meant for one of the men, chopping wood in the forest.

Perhaps it was for her husband for a hearty lunch.

The note was in Inuyasha's hand before he knew it and he unfurled the little paper and his eyes darted over the words written there before bringing the paper closer to his face in shock, sure that he had not read those words.

_It can't be good for your health sitting in trees all day._

The woman's basket was sitting on her front stoop the next morning with a small reply attached written from the stain of berry juice.

_Thank you._


	33. Damn Kids

Sesshoumaru was at his wits end!

It had been two days since that damn kiss and Inuyasha ran off. He thought he could handle it! Hell, he ruled an entire _kingdom_! Running one little cave with only two kids and parasitic rat should have been nothing.

He had done it before on those days Inuyasha was unconscious so he should have been all right. Right?

' _Wrong_!' Sesshoumaru groaned. ' _Fucking brats_!'

Sesshoumaru never realized that when Inuyasha had been there, the children were actually very well behaved. Take away the pending threat of punishment and well…

He stared down at frozen slab of ice that was supposed to be his bed.

The little twerps had dunked it in the ice-cold river and allowed it to freeze out side before returning it to its proper place. Sesshoumaru sighed as he dragged the block of ice nearer the fire in hopes to thaw the thing out.

He knew that it had been the blasted kitsune that had actually come up with the plan; Rin would never do anything remotely cruel to her wonderful "Sesshoumaru-Sama".

' _Hell, that's another thing I have to fix,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought sourly. ' _Rin has got to stop clinging to me._ _Although, she is starting to leave me be a bit more and follow Inuyasha._ '

He sighed as he kicked aside the assorted knick-knacks.

By day two, he had given up trying to do any domestic chores. It really wasn't worth it in the long run. He'd move something and then not two seconds after he turned his back, it was right back where it had started.

His bed was not the only thing that fell victim to the little terrors. Any thing that belonged to the Inu Youkai seemed to be fair game.

What remained of his clothing had become yet another tool in the psychotic Kit's pranks and Sesshoumaru sighed as he looked down at his current ensemble.

' _I should just run the little jerk through and be done with it,_ ' he scowled as he turned his eyes away from the blinding vision.

"How the hell did he manage to get the dye?" he wondered aloud as he glanced about the cave.

Sesshoumaru sighed as he shoved stuff over so he could sit down.

The kitsune had actually taken to making the meals! Granted, it was mostly soup but at least it wasn't coming out burnt. Hell, it was embarrassing.

He was the elder Youkai and it was a stupid _kid_ that was taking care of him. ' _Pray no one finds out_ ,' he hoped. ' _Not that I have any friends…_ '

His mind moved from the children to the one that they were missing.

He had been reeling from his realization of his feelings regarding Inuyasha and knew that his mind had simply shut down with the implications. However, with the threat that Inuyasha could be back at any moment, Sesshoumaru knew that he had to figure out a plan and soon.

' _I can't believe that it's that little hanyou that my Youki is reacting to. Hell._ ' Sesshoumaru sighed as he watched the water drip off his pallet.

' _I'm so screwed up_ ,' he told himself. ' _Inuyasha will sooner kill me, let alone listen to me when I tell him about the Recognition._ '

He leaned back as he listened to the children playing in the snow outside.

' _Hell, has anyone ever told him about Recognition_?' he wondered. ' _Like he so loves to rub in my face, he never really had a Youkai's upbringing._ '

Sesshoumaru frowned at this, ' _Really, he didn't have any upbringing at all._ '

He wondered what Inuyasha would say once he was told about the current situation they found themselves in.

No, scratch that. He knew exactly what he would say. He was going to say that he was completely crazy that's what he was going to say.

He scowled as he moved his bed closer to the flame. There was no possible way that Inuyasha would believe him. That they were bound together by their youki?

The hanyou was going to laugh in his face.

"Damn," he hissed. "There's no possible way that he's going to understand the significance of this."

He sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes. He had been up all night after still thinking about the implications of Inuyasha being his mate. The fact that his youki would only react to the hanyou for the rest of his life was a daunting thought indeed.

Now if only he could convince Inuyasha.

' _Oh hell_ ,' he thought. ' _How is Inuyasha going to react when I tell him that he can never be with any one else other than me_. _His hateful brother who has made his life a complete misery._ '

He suddenly jerked upright. ' _What if Inuyasha wants some one else_? _What if he really is in love with that… girl._ '

Sesshoumaru slumped back. ' _If he really is than that means that I really am ruining his life._ ' He groaned. ' _I really_ am _the worse thing that's ever happened to him._ '

He looked about the cave. ' _Perhaps it would have been better if I really did leave him alone._ '

He scoffed as he quickly squashed that thought. "Not like he has much of a choice anymore," he grumbled. "Even if he loves that silly ningen, he's mine now whether he likes that or not."

Sesshoumaru groaned as he brought his head down on the table as he heard himself. "Oh Kami, he's going to fight me tooth and nail over this."

It was gong to be a complete uphill battle when it came to convincing Inuyasha about the mating. Though there were some points that Inuyasha may nor resist.

A youkai mating wasn't like humans where it was together all year. There were some mates that only saw each other once or twice a season. It wasn't as if Inuyasha had to stay with Sesshoumaru _indefinably_.

Youkai lived centuries, so having a life mating wasn't really that large a deal. The only thing that it meant was that they could not have other mates.

He sighed. There was another problem.

Inuyasha's age had to be considered.

Sesshoumaru wasn't sure if Inuyasha had yet experienced a coming of age. Very unlikely considering that he was still a very young hanyou. That and after observing Inuyasha after he had met him while searching for the Tetsusaiga he could tell that Inuyasha had never acted as if he was on the look out for potential mates.

He certainly never looked at any of his companions or anyone else with the look of raw need. Then again, he did consider Inuyasha a very young youkai.

But if his own youki was reacting to Inuyasha then that had to mean the Inuyasha _had_ gone through a heat.

' _Oh Kami, I'm getting a headache,_ ' he moaned as his thoughts continued in little yapping circles.

Sesshoumaru was jerked to the present when there was a sudden scream outside.

Fearing the worse, Sesshoumaru bolted from his spot, tripping over the different items on the floor as he grabbed Tokujin and ran out the door.

He prayed that they weren't being attacked, that the kids were all right, that he would be able to find his way back.

' _Oh hell, now what_?'

Sesshoumaru stumbled out of the cave into the bright winter sun and immediately searched around for a threat.

It was quite easy to stop the children. There were bouncing around the other side of the small clearing chatting excitedly.

Sesshoumaru gasped when he saw whom it was they were speaking to.

"Inuyasha," he called out in surprise.

The hanyou looked up from the eager children to where Sesshoumaru stood. His golden eyes widened in shock as they studied him from head to toe and back again.

Sesshoumaru could feel his cheeks flush as he shuffled uncomfortably, suddenly very conscious of his clothes. ' _I had hoped for more time,_ ' Sesshoumaru thought defeated. ' _But on the up side, at least he's smiling._ '

Inuyasha, meanwhile, could not suppress the wide grin that spread against his face. He could feel a laugh begin to bubble up within him but he tried to desperately to suppress the expression as he tried to look down at Shippo with a stern glare.

"Shippo, I told you those berries were for later."

Shippo looked down at his feet trying to look sheepish thought Inuyasha knew very well that the small kit was smiling too.

Sesshoumaru groaned as he realized exactly what it was that was making his clothes a very vivid pink.

Inuyasha smiled again before turning to the children and asking them to continue playing outdoors while he and Sesshoumaru spoke.

He could hear Sesshoumaru huff behind him, but Inuyasha didn't care. He had actually managed to come to a decision after Kaoru's mother had left him that basket.

Now all he had to do was get Sesshoumaru to listen.

Shippo looked between the two curiously before grabbing Rin's hand and pulling the girl away from them, saying that they should go look for more winterberries.

Inuyasha ignored Sesshoumaru's little shout of outrage as he reminded the kids not to go to far into the woods. He turned and followed Sesshoumaru as the Inu re-entered the cave in a whirl of furry.

Sesshoumaru refused to look at the hanyou as he marched to the table and sat down with a growl.

Inuyasha took in the situation with one glance, pausing for a moment over Sesshoumaru's half thawed pallet by the fire. He turned to then examine the Youkai himself. ' _He looks exhausted,_ ' Inuyasha realized. ' _But is that from the children or because of what happened_?'

Glancing at Sesshoumaru's clothing he determined it was the kids.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru suddenly broke the silence. "We need to talk."

Inuyasha took a deep breath as he made his way over by his brother. "We certainly do," he replied.

"Now I know you may be a little confused…" Sesshoumaru started.

"Oh no, I understand perfectly well."

Sesshoumaru jerked up in surprise. "You do?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yes. I understand that you haven't been around any other youkai's and that your…" Inuyasha squirmed slightly. "Frustrated."

Sesshoumaru gawked.

"And I know that you didn't mean it and that you can't control something like this. You are after all, an adult. However," Inuyasha turned to stare Sesshoumaru straight in the eye. "I will not be your whore."

And with that Inuyasha stood from the table and left the cave calling for the children to get in there and clean up their messes.

Sesshoumaru was still sitting at the table in complete shock as he realized that explaining the Youki Recognition was going to be a little harder than he thought.

' _Well, there's always plan B,_ ' Sesshoumaru reasoned. ' _Now if someone would tell me what "plan B" is I'll be eternally grateful._ '


	34. Plan B

Plan B.

The idea of needing a "Plan B" had never occurred to Sesshoumaru. He had never _needed_ a "Plan B" in all his centuries. So the fact that there had to _be_ a "Plan B" must mean that there was once a "Plan A" and that said "Plan A" had failed.

From what Sesshoumaru could understand was that the failed "Plan A" had been to explain to Inuyasha that their Youki's were compatible to each other and that they were now mates. However, the idea of trying to explain to Inuyasha the implications of aYouki Recognition while the hanyou was under the impression that Sesshoumaru was just a horny bastard who wished to screw anything that moved…

Sesshoumaru blinked as a barrage of lewd mental images assaulted him of the multitude of Inu councilmen at his palace.

' _Ew._ '

…well, it was just asking for a beating.

Sesshoumaru wanted to _avoid_ a fight with Inuyasha, not be the cause of a whole new one.

So it had come to a point of Sesshoumaru in need of a "Plan B".

Naturally he could not _tell_ Inuyasha about the Recognition. Inuyasha probably wouldn't believe him anyway, so that meant that he had to get Inuyasha to be his mate _without_ telling him about the recognition. However, Inuyasha thought that Sesshoumaru just wanted him because he was the only "mate-able" youkai around. This meant that Sesshoumaru had to prove that he needed _Inuyasha_ as his mate and not just anyone.

In other words, "Plan B" quite simply meant- _Seduce Inuyasha_

Sesshoumaru started banging his head against the cave wall.

' _I'm dead,_ ' he thought, ' _he's going to not only take the other arm but my whole_ head _as well._ '

Sesshoumaru groaned as he slid down the wall to his knees, grateful that the barrels of the storage tunnel hid him completely from view from the entrance.

' _How the hell am I going to do_ that?' he wondered. ' _I've never had to seduce any one in my entire life. Usually all I have to do is look at them and they're in my bed before I could blink._ '

He glanced around his surroundings in hopes an idea would come to him. None did.

"FUCK!"

"Sesshoumaru-Sama?" a small voice floated down the passage. "Hello?"

Sesshoumaru groaned as he stood and made his way to the main cave only to stop short at the sight before him.

The cave was _clean_! And what was that smell? That wonderful and glorious non burning smell?

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as the Great Inu Taiyoukai squeezed himself between the two children and immediately began eating the grilled fish, sans chopsticks.

It really shouldn't have been that surprising. The kids were doing the exact same thing.

"I can never leave again, can I?" Inuyasha asked rhetorically. Four enthusiastic nods answered his quire. "Well!" he chuckled as he dished out some more servings of rice.

Kuufuku by far was winning the impromptu eating contest. The little rodent had managed to put two whole bowls away.

' _Whatever,_ ' the hanyou thought. ' _It's good to be needed._ '

Sesshoumaru took the next helping graciously, which meant he didn't thank Inuyasha with a full mouth as Shippo did but still there was a nod in there somewhere of thanks.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he quickly moved back to the fire to rotate the next serving of fish there. In truth, he was still very apprehensive around the older Youkai. Never knowing what Sesshoumaru had planed tended to make him nervous to the point of paranoia.

Throw in hormones into the mix and Inuyasha _really_ had no idea what to expect.

' _I should have made it clear to him that I won't allow him to use me,_ ' Inuyasha told himself. ' _Now if Sesshoumaru actually_ follows _my warning, everything should go back to normal… yeah… right._ '

Inuyasha sneaked a glance back over his shoulder at the table and its occupants. Gold eyes were staring straight at him.

Inuyasha quickly turned back towards the fish and blew his bangs away from his face. ' _I should know by now that Sesshoumaru does what he wants._ '

Inuyasha could feel those eyes still on his back and he shifted slightly with apprehension, feeling those eyes follow every little movement, every little twitch.

He took mental stock of himself, hoping that he looked as he normally did. His ears were swiveling madly with nerves but Inuyasha knew that it couldn't be helped.

In fact, it seemed to be Sesshoumaru's focal point as Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder again. Inuyasha gritted his teeth and forced his ears to hold still. There was a sigh of disappointment behind him but nothing else.

Inuyasha slowly released his breath so as not to be heard by the intently observing Youkai. ' _Okay, clearly Sesshoumaru has some issues and is still obsessively staring at me_ ,' he thought. ' _Then I suppose this explains why he was staring at me all those other times, he was already thinking of jumping me._ ' He giggled slightly under his breath. ' _Who knew Sesshoumaru was a pedophile_?'

Inuyasha removed the now golden fish from the pan and served the still eating group.

' _Of course it could not have to do with my age and have everything to do with me,_ ' Inuyasha realized as he dug into his own portion of food. ' _It may just be because it's me that he did that but then again..._ '

Inuyasha glanced upward through his bangs at the Inu who was still stuffing his face. A sudden blush stole across his cheeks and he quickly looked back down.

' _Well, clearly my warning had some effect if he's leaving me alone. Then again, it could just be because the kids are here. Feh, what a mess_.'

Inuyasha suddenly smiled as an idea flashed across his brain. ' _That's it!_ ' he suddenly tore into his food with gusto now that he had a plan.

' _Just make sure that I'm never alone with the bastard and always have the kids with us_!' Inuyasha smiled. ' _Brilliant_!'

Sesshoumaru glanced questioningly at the now very perky hanyou who was grinning at him idiotically.

The Inu sweat dropped. ' _Okay, some one has had a good day…_ ' Sesshoumaru's chewing slowed considerably as he tried to determine the cause of Inuyasha's sudden mood shift

It had been really disappointing when Inuyasha's ears had stopped twitching. The two points were always a thing of interest to the Taiyoukai. He had never really seen a youkai or hanyou for that matter before with such delectably enticing ears.

Sesshoumaru suppressed a groan as he felt his groin sit up and heartily agree with him.

Forcing his thought under control he glared as one of his fish suddenly appeared in front of Kuufuku who was devouring the morsel as if there were no tomorrow..

' _Pesky rodent,_ ' he scowled as he took another large bite from one of his remaining fish. ' _Now, back to business-how the hell am I suppose to seduce the blasted hanyou_?'

Sesshoumaru's mind thought back to his time in the palace and the different conversations he had overhead. The guards were actually quite chatty when the thought their lord wasn't around and he had over heard some juicy tidbits concerning his staffs love life.

Though, cooking a romantic dinner seemed out of the question.

Sighing, he reached down for another serving when suddenly his hand suddenly encountered empty space. Looking down, he frowned at his dish and the now single half eaten fish that lay there.

He glared at the now happy and full rat before moving his rice bowel some distance away.

Inuyasha across from his smiled with amusement before he fetched another fish for the still scowling Taiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru's scowl deepened as he nodded his thanks and returned to his meal. ' _Really out of the question._ '

He sighed as he slowed his eating noticing that the rice bowel he had moved had suddenly been claimed by the still gorging kitsune.

' _I hate my life._ '

Inuyasha frowned as he scolded Shippo before once more retrieving another serving for Sesshoumaru.

Glancing around the table, Sesshoumaru realized that action was needed to be taken and got up to stand beside the wall. Ensuring that all of the cave's occupants were in his line of view, Sesshoumaru quickly finished his meal before dumping the dishes into the washing barrel and reached over for the scrubbing pad.

He needed some mind numbing work and in lie of a good fight, he had found that washing dishes was a good way to go.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, sat there in completely flabbergasted as he watched his brother, who had _never_ before done _any_ domestic chores **ever** , wash his dishes.

He didn't know whether or not he should be grateful that Sesshoumaru was finally pulling his own weight or terrified that the world was coming to an end.

"Er, are you finished Rin?" he asked instead turning to the small girl.

Rin nodded as she handed her plates over to the hanyou. "Arigato Gozaimasu, Inuyasha-sama!" she chirped brightly.

"You're welcome. Shippo? Are you still eating?" The kit nodded enthusiastically. Smiling, Inuyasha brought over his and the girl's plates to where Sesshoumaru still stood scrubbing away.

Curiously, Inuyasha glanced at Sesshoumaru's face.

The Inu was focused and working with a determined air. Much as he was during a fight.

Grinning, Inuyasha mischievously dropped the extra dinnerware into the barrel and waited for the expected shout of annoyance from Inu.

It was with some surprise that Sesshoumaru simply took the newly added dishes and went right on with the scrubbing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Inuyasha asked, worry evident in his voice.

Sesshoumaru turned his head to give Inuyasha a glare worthy of freezing the artic. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Inuyasha immediately moved backwards, hands held up in the air. "Nothing." Sesshoumaru scoffed but said nothing as he went back to his cleaning.

"Inuyasha-sama!" Rin chirped as she flounced over to where the hanyou stood. "Inuyasha-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama must come outside and see the _huge_ snow castle that Rin-chan and Shippo-kun built."

Inuyasha smiled at the girl. "Well, sure. Show me what you did." He glanced at the Youkai beside him. "Ya coming?"

Sesshoumaru looked over at the challenging grin that the hanyou was presenting him with. He suddenly realized that perhaps by showing that he could be nice to the children, he could perhaps show Inuyasha that he wasn't the cold-hearted bastard that Sesshoumaru knew he was.

Throwing down the dishtowel, Sesshoumaru nodded. "I would love to see this 'castle'," he said.

And ignoring Inuyasha's gasp of surprise took Rin's hand and allowed the girl to pull her out into the blinding white.


	35. Snow Forts

Inuyasha stared at the empty doorway.

After a full minute, he slowly turned and looked back at Shippo who was still eating like there was no tomorrow but was now looking out the cave entrance as well with a look of suspicion.

"What the hell did you do to him while I was away?" Inuyasha demanded.

Shippo shrugged his shoulders as he slurped up the rest of his meal. Kuufuku gave a rodent-ish burp but said nothing on the subject.

"Inuyasha-Sama!" Rin called as she poked he head in the cave once more.

"Hai! I'm coming!" Inuyasha huffed.

Shippo tossed his dishes in the wash barrel before trotting to catch up to Inuyasha, scrambling up onto the hanyou's shoulder.

Inuyasha glanced at the boy before reaching up to pat him quickly on the head as they emerged into the bitter cold wind. Tracking through the snow, Inuyasha made his way a few yards over to where Rin and Sesshoumaru stood staring at a rather large lump of snow.

"It very… nice Rin," Sesshoumaru was saying as he eyed the pile dubiously.

"Isn't it?" Rin chirped. "And here's the garden and here's the kitchen and here's pond and here's…"

Inuyasha glanced at Sesshoumaru who obviously had no idea what the little girl was chatting about as she pointed out the different mounds of snow. ' _Well, at least he's trying._ ' he thought.

"Why would you put the pond by the kitchen? You never have a pond by the kitchen."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at Sesshoumaru's attempt to converse with the little girl. Rin had stopped abruptly and blinked up at Sesshoumaru cluelessly. "So Inuyasha-sama can see the fish while he's cooking of course," she explained.

Inuyasha chuckled as he listened to her reasoning. "Aren't we all being a little over obsessed about food?"

"No," Shippo and Sesshoumaru responded simultaneously.

Blinking in surprise, Inuyasha shrugged and turned to listen to Rin as she continued explaining the different rooms deciding to ignore the two walking stomachs.

Sesshoumaru meanwhile, was shooting convert looks at Inuyasha as the hanyou pointed out random sections and asking Rin what rooms they were. It was slightly more difficult to see Inuyasha's face as Shippo perfectly blocked Sesshoumaru's view.

' _What I wouldn't give for a very strong gust of wind right now,_ ' he thought bitterly as he turned back to the pile of snow. He couldn't understand the girl's logic. No matter how he looked at it, it was just a rather _large_ mound of fluffy frozen water.

…With rat sized tunnels in which Kuufuku continually poked his nose out of before ducking back into the mound.

Sesshoumaru hand itched for his throwing knife. ' _I knew I should have taken him out when I had the chance._ '

"All right you two," Inuyasha's voice broke thought his thoughts. "It's starting to get dark. Time to go in." The two children groaned in disappointment but Sesshoumaru actually was relived to go in. His nose was getting cold. He turned in a full circle until the cave came into his line of vision and not allowing it out of his sight, marched strait for it.

Sesshoumaru was in the cave before Inuyasha had even managed to turn around.

Shippo smirked on his shoulder. "Wuss can't stand a little cold."

"Shippo," Inuyasha hissed as they followed the youkai into the cave. "What had gotten into you? You were never this bratty."

Shippo shrugged as the entered the room only to find that Sesshoumaru had already squirreled himself away in the back. "He doesn't scare me any more," Shippo explained. "He's actually a rather large, cranky goof ball." Inuyasha gave the kit a sidelong look of skepticism. "Well he is," Shippo insisted. "He can't do anything right. He can't even make soup! And soup's easy!"

"Shippo! You know he's never done anything like that in his life. This is all new to him." Shippo scoffed at the suggestion. "Well he's trying."

"I doubt that," Shippo argued.

"Well he hasn't killed you yet has he?"

Shippo actually had the grace to blush.

Inuyasha chuckled softly as he started tucking the two into bed. Rin demanded two stories and Sesshoumaru finally returned just as he finished the last story. Rin immediately demanded a story from Sesshoumaru as well.

Inuyasha had to suppress the look of complete horror that crossed the Youkai's face as Sesshoumaru turned to look pleadingly at Inuyasha who decided to take pity on the frazzled man.

"Enough stories Rin. It's time for bed."

The girl pouted for a while before she snuggled into the blankets. Ensuring the two were actually falling a sleep and not pretending, Inuyasha turned to find Sesshoumaru staring down at his still sopping wet bedding.

He frowned in concern. Inuyasha actually felt bad about how the kids, or rather Shippo, had acted while he was off sulking. With a sigh, he made his way over to the still fuming youkai.

"Do you want to use my bed?"

Sesshoumaru never thought he would hear that sentence coming out of Inuyasha's mouth in all his life. His hormones immediately sat up and cheered him on to take the offer before Sesshoumaru viciously herded them together and locked them in an imaginary trunk.

Mentally tossing the invisible key over his shoulder, he looked up at Inuyasha gratefully. His first instinct was that of course he was going to use Inuyasha's bed as his own was ruined but Sesshoumaru immediately squashed that feeling down, trying to see it from Inuyasha's view and knew that the other was offering mostly out of guilt.

Guilt or no, it was actually a very kind offer.

Sesshoumaru mentally berated himself for never realizing how kind Inuyasha really was. ' _Of course it's rather hard to tell when the other person starts cursing like a sailor the moment he spots me._ '

"Sesshoumaru?"

Inuyasha's worried tone jolted Sesshoumaru out of his thoughts.

"Er…" Sesshoumaru wondered how to best handle the offer while not sounding pompous when suddenly he wondered if this would be a good moment to try and start with "Phase One" of "Plan B".

Prove to Inuyasha that he was not a selfish ass.

"Together?" The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Inuyasha gasped in shock before his features morphed into a fierce scowl.

' _FUCK_!' Sesshoumaru groaned at how eager he sounded. ' _Baka_! _Baka_! _Baka_! _Baka_! _Baka_!' He scrambled to salvage the situation before Inuyasha's reaching hand managed to grasp the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

"I- I mean, where will you sleep?" Sesshoumaru's words flew out of him in a rush. "Its too cold to just sleep on the floor."

Inuyasha's expression softened slightly as he took in Sesshoumaru's concerns and looked about the cave. "I'll be fine," he said even though he too some doubts as to whether or not he would be comfortable.

Sesshoumaru's mind whirled for an idea, _any_ idea that would help him impress Inuyasha. None was forth coming.

' _Think_ _you idiot_!' he yelled at himself. ' _You can't just expect to take his bed since yours is ruined. That was the old Sesshoumaru; this is the new more thoughtful Sesshoumaru. So get your head out of your ass and_ think!'

Inuyasha was already turning away.

' _Say_ something! _Anything_!' "Er, I could always sleep on the floor." ' _BAKA_! _You've never slept on a floor in your life_!'

Apparently Inuyasha agreed with Sesshoumaru's inner critic, which strangely sounded like his old edict teacher, as the hanyou turned and started backing away from him very slowly.

"No! I mean- I mean- um," gold eyes swiveled frantically around the room. He finally spotted the pile of the horrid pink robes. Scooping them he held them out hopefully. "I mean if you wish, you could use these."

Inuyasha stared down at the offered material before looking up at Sesshoumaru who was looking anywhere but at the hanyou. It was clear to him that Sesshoumaru was nervous as hell about something and Inuyasha had a vague notion on what it was.

' _He must feel really bad about what happed,_ ' Inuyasha determined, ' _else why would he be trying so hard to be nice_?' In truth Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should feel flattered or frightened. ' _Is he always this way when I'm not around or is this some sort of trick_?'

He looked back up at Sesshoumaru who was now looking back down at his offered robes with doubt. Slowly, Sesshoumaru began to pull the clothing back towards himself when Inuyasha instinctively reached out and took the offering.

Sesshoumaru's head jerked up with surprise before… ' _Is he blushing_?' Inuyasha wondered in amazement as Sesshoumaru suddenly turned his face away.

Inuyasha was feeling just as embarrassed, as he knew Sesshoumaru felt. He turned his head away as well as he tried to quash his own blush, "arigato."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly and he nodded curtly in response.

"Inuyasha-sama?"

Both youkai jumped as Rin's voice suddenly floated from behind them.

"Ye-" Inuyasha cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes?"

"I left my scarf outside," Rin admitted softly.

"That's alright Rin, we'll-"

"I'll get it!" Sesshoumaru's voice broke through Inuyasha's sentence as he suddenly bolted out the door.

"-get it now," Inuyasha finished lamely as he watched Sesshoumaru disappear out the door. "Well, that was awkward," he muttered. Rin looked at him quizzically, her eyes almost completely shut once more. "Go back to sleep," he whispered.

Rin nodded and did just that much to Inuyasha's amusement.

Smiling, he gathered up the rest of the pink silk and made his way to where Sesshoumaru's pallet use to lie before being moved by the fire. He separated the cloth and with a flick of his wrist spread out the robe on the cold ground.

Kneeling down to smooth out the wrinkles Inuyasha allowed himself to slowly fall forward into the cool silk, enjoying the feel of the material against the skin of his cheek.

He had never felt such softness. It was so smooth under his touch that he almost felt bad using it as impromptu bedding. Opening his eyes, he reassessed his opinion as the bright pink assaulted his eyes.

Closing them against the sight, he rolled onto his side inhaling deeply as he got more comfortable.

The robes smelled of Sesshoumaru… and berries… but mostly Sesshoumaru. A berry scented Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha groaned as he quickly got up and moved to away from his makeshift bed. ' _What the hell is wrong with me_?' Inuyasha wondered anxiously. ' _And how long dose it take to fetch a hair tie_?' he wondered as he looked to the cave entrance in which Sesshoumaru had disappeared almost ten full minutes ago.

Sesshoumaru meanwhile, was having problems of his own. He had clearly not been thinking when he darted out of the cave grateful for any excuse to leave the awkward situation.

His thoughts had been filled with the idea of "get away" when they should have been "stay within the tree line".

' _Okay, I'm not that far from the cave,_ ' he thought as he glanced around at the dense cluster of trees surrounding him. ' _Damn winter and making all the trees look exactly the same._ '

Sesshoumaru looked upward, hoping to get his bearings by using the stars. "Damn you clouds!" he shouted in frustration.

"Sesshoumaru? Where the hell are you?"

The youkai wasn't sure if he should shout in aggravation or sigh in relief as Inuyasha suddenly appeared behind him. "What are ya doin'?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

Sesshoumaru, not wanting Inuyasha to know of his complete lack of direction, immediately went on the defensive. "Is it so wrong to get a breath of air?"

"Er, I guess not," Inuyasha replied.

"Well, I suggest we fetch Rin's hair tie then." Sesshoumaru didn't move as he watched Inuyasha expectantly.

"Okay…" Inuyasha drawled as he made his way back to the little clearing, Sesshoumaru right on his heels.

They both stopped at the snow hill, a.k.a. the "castle" to search for the tie Rin used for her hair. Searching for something so small in the dead of night would have been a problem for the girl, but with their enhanced vision it did not take the two youkai's long to find the strip of leather.

It was with some shock when both their hands met over the innocent item, Sesshoumaru's closing over Inuyasha's smaller one as the hanyou gripped the leather.

Inuyasha immediately tried to yank his hand away only to find in caught firmly in his brother's grasp. He glared upward at the other youkai only to yelp in surprise as Sesshoumaru's head rapidly descended and Inuyasha found his lips covered by Sesshoumaru's own.

This time however, Inuyasha was not caught by surprise and with a great shove, sent the taller man tumbling backwards into the mound of snow as he quickly darted back to the safety of the cave. All the while strengthening his resolve to never again be alone with the clearly psychotic youkai.


	36. Not Exactly Friends

Sesshoumaru was rudely awakened next morning by a fierce smack to the nose. Snapping his eyes opened Sesshoumaru looked around to find the culprit, already prepared to give the person the most scathing insults from his arsenal.

He blinked. There was no one there.

"Squeek."

Blinking, his eyes blearily traveled downward to find Kuufuku happily flouncing away, his long pink tail held high like some perverse triumphant flag.

"Oh for the love of-" Sesshoumaru fell backwards on to his bed with a groan.

His very lonely, very hard, and very _pink_ bed.

Glancing out side, Sesshoumaru estimated that he probably got at _most_ two hours worth of sleep the night before.

After Inuyasha had given him the sudden snow bath by pushing him into the snow pile, of which Sesshoumaru was very suspiciously thought had been built over an existing pile of rocks, he had returned to the cave to find Inuyasha already bundled up in his own bed. The hanyou was more than likely just pretending to be asleep but Sesshoumaru figured his best course of action was to leave the other boy alone.

Grudgingly, Sesshoumaru wandered over to the already laid out robe as wearily collapsed on the horrid surface.

The Taiyoukai had spent hours upon hours yelling at himself for losing such contol around Inuyasha. But then again, it seemed as if whenever he was around the sexy hanyou, his youki had decided to take the initiative and Sesshoumaru found that he would no longer find himself in control of his own body.

' _Oh Kami,_ ' he groaned as he dragged one of the pink sleeves over his head. ' _I am so dead._ '

He laid there for a few minutes simply enjoying the feeling of stillness before finally shoving the sleeve off his face.

' _Hell, I'll have to face the boy sometime,_ ' he told himself.

"Inuyasha-" he started as he sat up. However Sesshoumaru found himself only address the kitsune who was giving him a rather amused stare.

"Inuyasha isn't here."

"Thank you, for stating the obvious," Sesshoumaru scowled. "Now could you possibly tell me where our illustrious cave-mate went?"

"No idea."

' _Must. Not. Strangle. Child_!' Sesshoumaru pinched the bridge of his nose. "He didn't tell you where he was going?"

"He didn't say anything to me," Shippo explained with a sigh. "I woke up and he and Rin were already gone." The kit paused. "Kuufuku is still here though."

Sesshoumaru's eye twitched. "Great," he muttered. "Where the hell did he go?"

Where Inuyasha had gone, actually, was not very far into the woods at all. He was in a small geln some distance away picking berries furiously with Rin.

' _I'll kill him,_ ' Inuyasha thought. ' _Bar that, I'm kicking his sorry ass out into the snow_ tonight.'

Another fist full of berries found their way into the basket at his side. ' _Rin can stay, but the prick has got to go._ '

He fiercely yanked at the small red globes of fruit, most of them squashed into juice, for a good while before he finally managed to slow himself down. "That bastard," he muttered, but was surprised that his voice did not hold as much malice as he had before.

It had been so aggravating the night before that Sesshoumaru had completely disregarded his warning of not allowing himself to be used as Sesshoumaru's personal play thing but Inuyasha had to admit that at the time, Sesshoumaru had looked just as surprised that it happened as he did.

A thought occurred to him that perhaps Sesshoumaru really _didn't_ have any control over what he did. Hell, Myouga never _really_ explained a Youkai's mating habits. Considering Inuyasha's age, the bug probably didn't think it was necessary yet.

' _Oh hell, I can't kick him out if it's not his fault,_ ' Inuyasha thought bitterly. ' _I can beat him up, but I can't kick him out._ '

"Inuyasha-sama!" Rin's cheery voice rang across the field. "Rin has found more berries!"

Unable to suppress a smile, Inuyasha wandered over to where the girl stood triumphantly next to a rather large bush. He stared down at the bush with a frown. "I'm sorry Rin, but we can't eat those. They're not meant to be eaten."

Rin's eyes got huge as she looked at the bush in dissaointment. "Why?"

"Because they'll make you sick," Inuyasha explained.

"Why would the make Rin sick?"

"Because they don't taste very good."

"But why don't they taste good?"

Inuyasha sweat dropped. "Er, I think I saw some over here that we could gather."

"YAY!" Rin cheered as she danced over towards the indicated bush, her own little basket swinging from her arm.

Inuyasha sighed in relief as he watched the girl move away, taking her circling questions with her. ' _Who knew kids were so difficult_?'

It was then that he heard it. A sudden gasp of indrawn breath behind him.

Inuyasha's temper flared at the thought that Sesshoumaru actually had the gall to follow him when he thought it was clear as day that he wanted to be away from the youkai.

Whirling around, Inuyasha nearly bit off his tongue when he saw that it was not his brother behind him but rather some one else he really did not expect to see for a long time.

It was Sango who stood behind him gapping in surprise, her giant boomerang hanging limp from her hand. The two stared at each other, nither one quite sure wat to say.

It was actually Kirara who broke the silence, for Inuyasha anyway. ' _ **I'm sorry pup, I hadn't realized which direction we had been traveling.**_ '

Inuyasha told her silently that it was not the small neko's fault while he nearly groaned aloud with dread.

For where ever there was one the others were sure to be…

"Inuyasha!" Miroku said amazed as he stepped into the clearing behind the Demon Slayer. "My god! You've been missing for months! Where have you _been_?"

Cue the perv.

Inuyasha gave a little nervous laugh as he raised a hand in greeting. However before he could say anything another voice stabbed into the silence.

"Inuyasha?" a high-pitched screech sounded from the background.

The hanyou tensed and automatically took a defensive step back.

Kagome, in all her futuristic glory stormed over to the small cluster of people a scowl that would put Sesshoumaru's to shame planted on her face.

"OSUWARI!" She screamed in furry!

Both Sango and Miroku filched in anticipation of the resounding bang of Inuyasha hitting the floor but the hanyou simply stood there smirking.

' _Really_ ,' he wondered. ' _How was I ever afraid of her_?' With a smirk of triumph, Inuyasha held out his arms and did a full one hundred and eighty degree turn. "Notice anything different?" he asked.

Kagome gapped as she stared at the empty neckline. "You!" she screeched "How dare you remove those? You have no authority to remove those! You-" her voice trailed off into an inhuman screech.

"Kagome, please. Calm down," Sango tried to place herself between the fuming girl and the now very worried hanyou while Miroku tried to place himself between the girls.

' _She's worse that before,_ ' Inuyasha realized as he stared at the girl in shock. ' _I didn't even know that was possible._ '

Suddenly Inuyasha felt pressure in his free hand and looked down to see Rin clining to his hand as she stared at the other tree humans apprehensively. "Inuyasha-sama?" she whispered.

Glancing at the other three he leaned down and whispered to Rin to go by the berry bush and to stay there, no matter what happened. He quickly asked Kirara if she would stay with the child and spotting the girl, the neko immediately agreed.

He looked back just in time to see Kagome throw off her two compamions and marched as quickly as she could through the ankle deep snow right at Inuyasha who was not an idiot and immediately moved away from the charging female.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" she hissed. "How dare you leave the village! You have an obligation to search for the Jewel shards! You can not slack off on your responsibilities!"

"Yeah right!" Inuyasha shouted back as he ducked behind Mirouku. "I ain't have to do shit!" Kagome gasped at the swear but Inuyasha stubbornly continued before she could even utter a word of protest. "Who was it again that broke the damn thing in the first place? It certainly wasn't _me_ who shot that arrow."

Kagome made a frantic lunge at the youkai who quickly jumped out of the way, this time landing behind Sango who looked at him furiously for putting her quite literally in the middle.

"You were there! You made a vow that you would help me find the shards."

"I did no such thing!" Inuyasha gasped as he evaded another swipe of the girls fingernails. From the way Mirouku was wincing, Inuyasha knew that those things just had to hurt.

"Yes you did!" Kagome counted. "You said you were going to gather the shards!"

"For myself you whacked out psycho! I wanted the jewels for my own purpose. The fact that you tagged along didn't mean I was friggin' helpin' ya!"

Kagome gasped in anger and made another desperate lunge at the silver figure. "What of Naraku?" Kagome snapped. "You vowed to get revenge and stop him from obtaining the sacred Jewel."

"What the fuck dose that have to do with _YOU_?"

"Inuyasha!" A familiar voice rang into the glen as Shippo suddenly appeared and clambered up onto his shoulder. "Miroku! Sango! You're all here!"

Kagome stared at the small kitsune in shock. "Shippo!" she gapped. "YOU!" she whirled around to point an accusing finger at Inuyasha, "how dare you kidnap that poor child and force him to live in the woods!"

"What?" both youkai shouted in shock.

"Inuyasha, what is going on?" Shippo demanded as he stared at Kagome in shock as she still continued her shouting about Shippo still being only a child and other such nonsense.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked the kit.

"We got tired of waiting for you to come back and make breakfast so we decided to come and find you."

Inuyasha boggled. "'We'?"

Suddenly there was dead silence followed by a rather hallow thump.

Turning, Inuyasha stared at Kagome's slumped form laying flat on the snow covered ground, the other two beside her both in battle formation. Sango's boomeranged held at the ready while Mirouku already had his free hand grasping his beads.

Inuyasha stared at the slumped woman in complete shock before he slowly looked up past the unconscious figure to the silver figure that stood directly behind her.

There in a triumphant pose, stood Sesshoumaru- wearing a wicked grin on his face and a holding a gigantic rock in his hand.


	37. Regrouping

"…"

"…"

"Is she dead?"

"…"

"…"

"No."

"…"

"…"

"Damn."

"…"

"…"

"I could always hit her again."

"What? No!"

"Why not?"

"Stop trying to kill Kagome!"

"I could always kill you kittling."

"Leave Shippo out of this."

"He's annoying."

"That's no excuse to kill him."

"Pthhhh!"

"I hate you."

"Sesshoumaru!"

"What?"

"What are you two doing out here anyway?"

"We were hungry."

"And you couldn't wait for five frickin' minutes?"

"But Inuyasha, we were hungry now."

"Why couldn't Sesshoumaru make you something?"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"The kit's right, have you _seen_ my cooking?"

"That still doesn't explain why you had to follow me."

"Did you want to return to the cave to find only rotting corpses?"

"…"

"…"

"Who knew dog face could be morbid?"

"How about I just eat the fox?"

"You two knock this off now!"

"Inuyasha-sama? Can Rin come out now?"

"Oh dang. Gomen-nasai Rin-chan, I forgot about you."

' _ **Having a bad day**_?'

"You stay out of this!"

"Who are you talking to?"

"None of your business!"

"Squeek!"

"You stay out of this too!"

"When did Kuufuku show up?"

"Gah! The Rat! Quick! I need a bigger rock!"

"SESSHOUMARU!"

"WHAT?"

"Put the bolder down."

"Damn you! Stop ruining my fun!"

"Stop trying to kill Kuufuku! Anyway, what'll you achieve by killing him?"

"It will make me feel better."

"…"

"…"

"Behold, the all powerful Inuyoukai. Done in by a little measly rat."

"I am not finished yet!"

"Gah! Sesshoumaru! Put Tokujin away!"

"Ooo."

"She's waking up. Get me another rock."

"What is your obsession with rocks?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin found berries!"

"FOOD!"

"Shippo! Behave!"

"Mmph."

"…Sesshoumaru, did you just eat the whole basket full?"

"… Maybe."

' _ **Are they always like this**_?'

"Trust me, this is a good day."

"Whom are you _talking_ to?"

"You really don't know?"

"Would I bother _asking_ you if I _did_?"

"Seriously? You can't hear her?"

"'Her' who? That's what I'm trying to figure out?"

"You mean it's not a normal youkai thing?"

"What 'thing'? Could you possibly attempt to give me a straight answer?"

"Could you possibly give me a straight question?"

"What are you two talking about?"

"Never you mind Shippo."

' _ **Hmm, apparently you're brother can't hear me.**_ '

' _ **What was your first clue genius**_?'

' _ **No need to get defensive pup**_.'

' _ **Don't call me**_ " _ **pup**_ ".'

"Eh? Inuyasha, why are you scowling?"

"I'm not mad at you Shippo."

"Great, then what did _I_ do?"

"I could name a million things, but at this moment it's not you either."

"Well there's a surprise."

"The whole world does not revolve around you, Sesshoumaru."

"Well obviously you think it does."

"What? Where did you get _that_ notion?"

"Here and there."

"What are ya? Nuts?"

"This coming from someone who has yet to grasp proper speaking skills."

"You really want me to kick your ass, don't you?"

"Hah! Like you could actually do it!"

"TETSUAIGA!"

"You want a fight! Well you've got one-"

"…"

"…"

"Inuyasha, it's not doing anything."

"I kinda noticed that Shippo."

' _ **Obviously, bad temperament runs in the family**_.'

' _ **Will you stay**_ **out** _ **of this**_!'

"Inuyasha-sama! Rin is out of berries, can Rin pick more?"

"Later Rin."

"But why not?"

"Rin, sit."

"She's not a dog you know. That's what you're suppose to be."

"Okay, that did it. Inuyasha, I'm going to kill the kit now."

"For the billionth time! Both of you _**knock it off**_!"

"EXCUSE ME!"

The Inu, Neko, kitsune, hanyou, and little human girl sitting in the snow turned to look at Sango and Miroku who were still standing at the edge of the clearing. Sango's mouth was sill-hanging open in shock and Miroku was looking between the small group and the still unconscious Kagome.

"Could someone please explain what the fuck is going on here?"


	38. Congested Quarters

"What are you doing Inuyasha?" Mirouku continued angrily. "Why are you way out here? Why did you leave the village? Why did you take Shippo?"

"Err, I came on my own," Shippo tried to explain.

"And most importantly-WHY THE HELL IS SESSHOUMARU HERE?"

Sesshoumaru stared at the monk and raised an eyebrow. A look that normally garnered some trepidation but considering that Sesshoumaru had found Inuyasha's own basket of nuts and berries and was currently stuffing his face, lacked its usual impact.

"Mirouku," Inuyasha said calmingly. "I can understand that you're confused and do admit that I owe you some explanation-"

"You're damn right you do," Miroku grumbled.

"-and I'll give you one." Inuyasha finished. "I will explain everything-" Sesshoumaru shot Inuyasha a fierce glower as he popped another berry into his mouth and Inuyasha quickly finished his sentence with a "that I can."

Mirouku looked between the two Inu Brothers, not once missing the shared glance. His scowl deepened.

Snago glanced nervously at the two scowling men and slowly moved closer to Inuyasha, "Er, have you been alright?" she asked the hanyou. "I mean, when you left you were looking-"

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru shot the girl a withering stare. "-er, not yourself." She finished lamely.

"I've been healing," Inuyasha cryptically replied.

"Oh," Sango blinked. "Well, that's good…"

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru commented between bites.

Sango regarded the youkai for a moment, her own gaze mirroring Miroku's between the two brothers, minus the hate filled glares at the Taiyoukai.

"Did Sesshoumaru force you to leave the village?" Miroku suddenly demanded, his glare never leaving the taller youkai.

Inuyasha gapped. "What?"

"Was Sesshoumaru keeping you away by force? Is he holding you prisoner?" Miroku continued

"Now hold on just one moment!" Inuyasha growled. "You actually think that Sesshoumaru kidnapped me? ME? What the fuck?"

"We didn't even receive word by letter that you were alright." Miroku argued. "We just haven't heard from you period. It's as if you dropped off the face of the earth!"

"Okay, as if Sesshoumaru could actually beat me-" Inuyasha ignored Sesshoumaru's increasing growls. "Why would you think that he would hold me hostage?"

"Well how do I know how far his insanity runs?" Miroku snapped back.

Sesshoumaru sniffed in offence before picking up the basket and calling to Rin to accompany him back to the cave.

Inuyasha relaxed some when he realized that Sesshoumaru wasn't going to attack Miroku outright for the monk's assumption of him. Not that Inuyasha blamed Miroku's worries. Though Inuyasha had to admit that some of Miroku's guesses were way off target.

Inuyasha shook his head in answer to Miroku's accusations before angling his body so Shippo fell of his shoulder. "Go with them, we'll be right behind you," he told the kit. Shippo didn't look happy about leaving with the other Youkai, but after noticing that Kuufuku was trying to pounce on Sesshoumaru's trailing Fur the kit let loose a wicked grin and sprinted to catch up.

Turning back to the two humans who he still considered his friends, he wandered over and hoisted Kagome's limp body over his shoulder. "Look, you two. It's not what you think. Sesshoumaru and I just ran into each other and he kinda stuck around."

"Inuyasha," Sango placed her hand on his free shoulder, "he's always tried to kill you before. Why are you-?"

Inuyasha sighed and waved a hand, cutting off Sango's concerns. "I'll explain it all when we get to the cave."

Miroku gave him weird look, "cave?"

"Er, yeah." Inuyasha scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Well, it's been an odd couple a months."

"You could say that again," Sango muttered.

Inuyasha glanced back but shrugged as he moved onward towards the others. Miroku quickened his pace to match Inuyasha's ground eating steps, even with the extra weight of the comatose Kagome on his back the hanyou was damn fast.

They walked in silence for a little while, only Inuyasha's snicker occasionally breaching the silence as Kuufuku pounced onto the trailing end of Sesshoumaru's Fur and was hitching a ride, his little claws digging into the thing to hold on.

Miroku's continued side long glances at him were starting to drive him batty though.

"Inuyasha-" Miroku started.

"So how's Kaede-baachan?" Inuyasha interrupted.

Miroku kept up with the shift in topic pretty well. "Kaede-sama's is doing fine. …wondering where the hell you went to but fine."

"Feh," Inuyasha huffed. "She probably just want's me to fix that fence she's been harping about 'fore I left."

Miroku glanced at him. "You fix fences?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Had to do something when everyone left for their whatever's."

Miroku thought of this for a moment. ' _Kagome down the well, me on my pilgrimage trips,_ _Sango visiting friends_ _…_ ' he glanced back at Inuyasha. ' _I didn't realize he would be lonely._ '

"What else did Kaede-sama have you do?" he asked honestly curious.

Inuyasha shot him a suspicious look but went with the flow. "Fixed that hole in her roof from the summer rains."

Miroku's eyes lit up. "I wondered who it was that fixed that after you left." He paused a moment, "didn't think it was you though."

"Figures," Inuyasha sulked.

"No, I mean I knew you could fix it if you wanted!" Miroku countered, rapidly back peddling. "I just didn't think Kaede-sama could convince you!"

Inuyasha shot a menacing glare at the monk and Miroku slumped slightly, noticing that Sesshoumaru had glanced back to scowl at him.

Miroku glared back then smirked as Sesshoumaru noticed his extra passenger.

Frowning, Sesshoumaru took his Fur in his hand and with a quick flick of the thing, set the rat flying into the air. Grinning in satisfaction, he ignored Inuyasha's cry of protest and continued forward.

Sesshoumaru had been eavesdropping on the conversation behind him and didn't like how it sounded one bit. At all. It sounded as if they had been taking advantage of his brother! And making him do all the manual labor at that! It wasn't as if he was ashamed of the hanyou's domestic skills. If anything it proved Inuyasha will to survive. And the cave's interior was a testament to it.

' _Manipulative ningen's,_ ' he thought angrily with each stopping step.

Suddenly noticing that he was now in the lead of the mixed matched heard, Sesshoumaru slowed his steps ever so slightly; causing the girl and the bounding kitsune to move ahead of him and in turn, basically lead the way.

Sesshoumaru frowned as he heard the monk try once more to strike Inuyasha up into an explanation and Inuyasha's blatant change of topic.

' _Damn humans,_ ' Sesshoumaru groused. ' _I suppose I'll have to be_ "nice" _to them, HAH_!'

He glanced back again noticing the monk was walking with hunched shoulders, ' _well you should be depressed you pathetic ningen,_ ' as well as the female human who was currently looking between Inuyasha and himself.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the girl when their eyes met before turning back around, totally disregarding her inquisitive look.

His delicate ears suddenly heard the sound of the girl moving to catch up with him, her steps loud as they plowed through the deep snow. She came shoulder to shoulder with him and quickened her pace to meet his.

He spared a glance at the girl but said nothing as she had yet to say anything to him.

They both could hear Inuyasha quicken to catch up and Miroku hurrying behind him.

Unfortunately, neither person was speaking so Inuyasha had no clue as to what Sango's motives were catching up with his brother. Inuyasha shot Kirara a confused look and the cat gave him a feline equivalent to a shrug.

The small group, continued on silently, only Shippo's small giggle when Kuufuku reattached himself to Sesshoumaru's Fur breaking the silence but even that didn't last very long.

Arriving at the cave Sesshoumaru and the children quickly ducked into the entrance as Sango and Miroku gave An and Un a rather surprised stare. The Lizard looked over his impromptu paddock with a bale stare before continuing to munch on a branch that had obviously been yanked off a nearby tree.

Sango and Miroku shared a worried glance before both ducked into the cave.

Allowing their eyes to focus, both humans gapped at the scene before them. The cave was actually… homey. They took note of Sesshoumaru setting down at the little scratched table, soon joined by the children as Inuyasha deposited the comatose Kagome onto a futon on the far side of the room.

Inuyasha gestured towards the little table and Miroku visibly balked at Sesshoumaru's challenging gaze. Sango however, studied the Youkai's reclining figure for a moment before taking measured steps and seating herself between Sesshoumaru and Shippo's seat, Kirara immediately jumping into her lap.

Inuyasha sat on the taller youkai's other side and raised an eye brow at Miroku, unconsciously mirroring his brother.

Miroku shuddered. He had to remind himself that they _were_ brothers after all and that it really shouldn't be surprising if they had a few quirks in common. ' _That has to be the most important point we always forget,_ ' Miroku mused. ' _We always forget that they are brothers._ '

Steeling his nerve, Miroku walked calmly to the table and sat himself down between Shippo and Rin.

Inuyasha's posture immediately relaxed and he gave the monk a grateful smile that Miroku unconsciously returned.

Sesshoumaru continued glaring at the two humans who shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze.

They all stat there; staring at each other. No one dare saying a single word.

Rin and Shippo were easily bored but Shippo knew that this was a serious situation and Rin was content to stroking Kirara who had mysteriously appeared in her own lap.

Miroku coughed nervously, his former bravado somewhat subdued now that he could plainly see that Inuyasha had in fact been alright and had apparently made a home for himself.

Inuyasha looked between the two groups, knowing that he was the only connection between them. He knew it would have to be he who broke the silence but Inuyasha was still dreading the coming conversations.

He went with a neutral topic instead.

"I'll go make the tea."


	39. Tea Talk Take Two

"NO!" Sesshoumaru snapped. "No more tea!"

Miroku and Sango jumped in surprise and stared at the youkai, neither sure what to make of Sesshoumaru's vocal protest to a mere drink.

Inuyasha frowned at his brother. "What is your aversion to tea?"

Sesshoumaru scowled again but refrained from responding in front of the humans. ' _Tea_ ,'he thought sourly. ' _Why is it that when we're facing a long and emotional conversation- he breaks out the friggen kettle_?'

The two adult humans stared at each other, neither one sure how to impose themselves into the… argument? Stare down?

"Inuyasha-sama!" Rin broke in unconcerned. "Rin is hungry!"

Sesshoumaru's glare whipped around to stare at the little girl but Inuyasha was all smiles. "Of course Rin-chan, we haven't had breakfast yet, have we?" Rin eagerly shook her head and Shippo's tail was actually wagging in anticipation. "And if no one else is going to complain, then I'll make tea as well," Inuyasha declared as he started to get out the kettle and the ingredients for miso soup

' _He's trying to drown me_ ,' Sesshoumaru thought angrily as he scowled at the Hanyou's back. Out of the corner he saw the two ningen's watching as well. "Damn tea," he groused, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving form the other adults at the table. Inuyasha's sensitive ears picked up the statement and he turned to glare at Sesshoumaru momentarily before retuning to his task.

Sango and Miroku suddenly felt a nerve-wracking strain as they sat there at the little table while Inuyasha busied himself with the cooking. Neither of them knew what to say. They hadn't seen their hanyou friend in months and to find that he was living with his hate filled youkai brother, in a _cave_ … Well, what does one say in such a situation?

"Er, this is actually a nice place you have here," Miroku ventured.

Sesshoumaru snapped his head around to turn his glare to the two adult humans. "You are surprised?" he sneered.

Sango nearly pounded Miroku into the ground with her boomerang, ' _Wrong thing to say_ ,' she thought mournfully.

Miroku, meanwhile, jumped in surprise at being addressed by the taiyoukai as he had never before actually _spoken_ to Sesshoumaru.

"Well," Sango shifted as she once more exchanged nervous glances with a now fidgety Miroku and desperately tried to defuse the situation. "We knew that Inuyasha could take care of himself, naturally."

"Naturally," Sesshoumaru mocked as he glared at the monk.

Miroku's eyes darted between the two and he tried to pacify the raging youkai, "It's just surprising that Inuyasha would settle down in one spot. Form what we've been told; he's always had to keep moving before he came to Kaede's village."

This time it was Inuyasha who snorted in disagreement. "You do realize that I am over two hundred years old, right?" he asked as he set down the steaming kettle.

Miroku looked at him puzzled, "Well obviously, since you are a youkai-"

"Then I'm surprised that you didn't realize that there would be some points where I would find my self in the same place for a few years," Inuyasha frowned, tapping the long cooking chopsticks against his shoulder angrily.

"Er, well I- I mean that I- er…" Miroku fidgeted. In truth, he hadn't really thought about it. It was always so easy to forget that Inuyasha technically was very much older than him and if he stayed a hanyou or managed to get full youkai status would remain alive long after he had died. ' _How could I forget that the all this time that we've been together is actually a very small moment in his very long life_ ,' Miroku chastised himself. ' _That he would still be living long after I've been turn to dust…_ '

The thought was actually quite heartbreaking.

Sango shook her head and lightly whapped Miroku upside the head. "Honestly," she chided, "think before you open that mouth of yours."

"I would listen to the female, letcher," Sesshoumaru growled flexing his fist. "Before you say something that could get you killed."

Inuyasha set down a few bowls of food angrily, ensuring that Sesshoumaru's sloshed over the side more than the others. "I know that this is an odd situation, but please could we eat before committing multiple murders?" Sesshoumaru glared at Inuyasha who simply glowered right back. "You do know that if I don't get a yes, the first murder will be yours," Inuyasha told him. The deadpan tone in his voice told Sesshoumaru that while Inuyasha could be kidding about killing him, he wasn't above giving them all a bruise or two.

The cave was once again engulfed in an eerie silence, as the groups at their breakfast. It was the children who finished first and while Rin asked if she could go play outside Shippo refused to move.

Inuyasha scowled. "Shippo, you too."

"What?" Shippo cried. "Why can't I stay here?"

"You heard him kit, out!" Sesshoumaru snapped.

Shippo puffed out his little chest angrily before whirling back to Inuyasha. "I want to stay!"

Sesshoumaru gapped at the child's impertinence and was actually getting ready to physically toss out the small youkai when Sango piped up.

"Now Shippo," she said soothingly, "We have some adult matters to discuss and I don't think you should have to be bother with adult talk."

"I don't mind, I can stay." Shippo counted eagerly.

Sesshoumaru suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as he reached forward and snagged the kit by his collar and started to physically carry the boy to the exit. "You are a youkai," he growled at the small kit under his breath that only Shippo heard him. "Learn your place."

"Hey! What do ya think you're doin' you crazy Inu!" Shippo cried as he started wiggling outlandishly. "Put me down!"

"Gladly," Sesshoumaru returned as he chucked the child out the door.

Shippo went sailing with an undignified squeek and landed with a dull thud on the remains of the snow castle.

"SESSHOUMARU!" Inuyasha shouted aghast at the scene he had just witnessed.

Sesshoumaru calmly returned to his place and sat down gracefully. "He'll live," was all he said and no sooner than the words were out of his mouth than the small kit stopped back into the cave covered from head to toe with large clumps of snow.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the child but Shippo simply yanked his overcoat form his pallet and started to trump out of the cave again.

"Are you alright?" Inuyasha asked at the kit stormed away.

"Nobody ever lets me know _anything_!" the kit groused in response before he disappeared once more.

Sesshoumaru gave Inuyasha a smug grin and Inuyasha had never before felt such a stronger urge to punch him in the nose.

Sighing, Inuyasha simply started to gather up the remains of breakfast and decided to just ignore what had transpired. He wouldn't forget what Sesshoumaru had done and fully planed to have a very _lengthy_ discussion with the other youkai, but for now he had more pressing matters to attend to.

After gathering the dishes and refilling everyone's tea, much to Sesshoumaru's displeasure, Inuyasha took a deep breath and turned to his two former friends. "Why didn't you help me?"

Sesshoumaru took a deep gulp of tea in hopes of hiding his expression to the childish plea he heard in his brother's voice. ' _Like a sword to the gut he got right to the heart of the matter._ '

Sango and Miroku were obviously just as affected by the deepened sadness to Inuyasha's question.

"We," Sango started. "We honestly didn't know how."

"That is no excuse," Sesshoumaru countered before he grunted in surprise to Inuyasha's elbow in his side.

"He is right, Inuyasha," and Miroku's voice betrayed how he hated that fact. "We should have realized that our indifference to the situation would have affected you and left you with very little choices."

"More like only one," Inuyasha scathingly interrupted.

"We didn't think that it was really that bad," Sango argued.

"How could you not wench?" Sesshoumaru barked. "The bruising he sustained should have been a large enough hint."

"You're not helping," Inuyasha snapped.

"We thought that Inuyasha could handle it," Miroku bellowed just as loudly as Sesshoumaru. "We didn't think that Kagome would do that much harm to Inuyasha."

"That's right," Sango agreed. "Kagome's human and doesn't have the strength that Inuyasha has."

"Since when does Kagome ever need strength when a simple 'osuwari' could damn near cause a concussion!" Inuyasha shouted his face red with anger. "Kagome never **needed** physical strength to damn well nearly kill me."

"Kill you?" Sango gasped. "What-?"

Inuyasha growled at her-actually _growled_ at her. "Did either of you ever noticed that as time went by my fighting style has actually gotten _slower_?" he snarled.

Three jaws dropped at the announcement and even Sesshoumaru stared at the hanyou in surprise.

' _It's_ true _,_ ' the Inu realized as he thought over the previous battled he had had with his younger brother. ' _Every time I encounter him, his movements were getting slower_.' Sesshoumaru could very well give himself a mental wack upside the head. ' _His reactions were normal but it was if his body couldn't keep up with his mind's commands._ '

"I was actually, _physically_ getting weaker," and here Inuyasha paused to send a stern glare to Sesshoumaru, daring him to say anything. Sesshoumaru simply sat there, almost in breathless anticipation of Inuyasha's next words, just as enthralled of the hanyou's shouting accusations as the two humans were.

"She would shout that damn command word every day," he growled. "And when ever we encounter Kana, Kagura or any other youkai under Naraku's reign my body would already be exhausted and bruised to the point of near collapsing."

The two sagged slightly under Inuyasha's withering glare, the argument deflating out of them as Inuyasha collapsed in his seat breathing heavily from all the shouting he had done.

Sesshoumaru, meanwhile, was actually gawking at his brother in complete astounding wonderment. ' _The fact that his body was completely worn down and to_ still _come out the victor against countless powerful youkai, myself included, is nothing short of miraculous._ ' Sesshoumaru realized that there truly was more to Inuyasha than he thought and the taiyoukai could actually feel the beginning strands of pride at his brother's accomplishments rise within him.

He quickly squashed them into the dark mental box labeled "all sappy emotions-deposit here" and quickly lost the key.

"Inuyasha," Sango finally ventured after a long period of silence. "How could we have know that you were in pain? You never speak to us of what you're feeling or how injured you are. We never know that you even _are_ injured until you collapse."

Miroku nodded. "All we saw was Kagome yelling at you and a few 'osuwari's'."

"What about the kettle?" Inuyasha counted furiously. "You saw then how bad it was! And you- _neither of you_ \- did ANYTHING!"

Sesshoumaru glanced at him confused. ' _Kettle_?'

"That was-" Miroku started before Sango whacked him again.

"You are correct Inuyasha, we should have realized then just how bad it was getting," she agreed.

Sesshoumaru's head swiveled between the two groups. "You said that it was a tree branch," he accused Inuyasha.

The hanyou turned with a frown, "this was before that. Kagome threw a kettle at me when I was backed into a corner of Kaede's hut. My only option was to get hit or slash it to pieces with my claws."

"Kaede was furious that you destroyed one of her ceremonial kettles," Sango muttered absently.

"Well, it wasn't me that she should have been pissed at," Inuyasha snapped and Sango slumped even further.

Sesshoumaru's scowl darkened as he took in the two chastised humans. "So you knew that there was something seriously wrong with the Miko long before he left?"

"We thought it would get better," Miroku argued.

"That is no excuse for you to turn a blind eye to your 'supposed' friend's need."

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha growled, "how many times do I have to repeat myself? 'I. can. Take. Care. Of. Myself,'."

The taiyoukai made a scoffing sound at that announcement. "Hence your multiple need for The Goo."

"What goo?" Miroku demanded.

"Not goo, The Goo," Inuyasha clarified.

Miroku blinked, "what?"

"Er, never mind," Inuyasha smirked slightly as he enjoyed an inside joke for the first time in his life.

"So things escalated with the kettle?" Sesshoumaru asked as he tried to get a mental time line of the event's that brought Inuyasha to living in the cave.

"Well, the kettle was a turning point but it didn't really escalate until the tree branch this year like I said."

There went Sesshoumaru's time line.

"A _year_?" he demanded and whirled on the two ningen's as he started to rise to his feet. "You let that _female_ ," and he spat the word, "continually abuse him for over a _year_?"

The two reeled back at the malice that dripped from Sesshoumaru's words, Sango's hand actually coming to rest on her boomerang.

Inuyasha reached out to lay a hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder and firmly tugged the enraged youkai back down. "This doesn't even concern you, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha reprimand. "You keep this up and I'm throwing you outside with the kids."

Sesshoumaru sat down, still fuming but at least no longer homicidal.

Inuyasha frowned as he moved to refill everyone's cold tea.

Sesshoumaru huffed as he set Tokujin down once more. ' _One of the problems with him being half human,_ ' he thought bitterly. ' _The subdued desire to just slash and be done with it._ '

Sango and Miroku were silently conversing with each other as Sesshoumaru frowned at the next cup of tea that was placed before him.

As Inuyasha sat down himself, Miroku spoke up hesitantly. "We-" he glanced at Sango, "We really _didn't_ realize that it had been going on for that long."

Sesshoumaru let out a sarcastic "ha!" but again received Inuyasha's elbow in his side. He took another sip of tea to refrain from more scathing retorts.

"We truly did not see just how badly things were getting between the two of you," Sango continued, trying her best to ignore Sesshoumaru's snort of disbelief. "Things just escalating more and more ever so gradually-"

"Chucking a kettle is 'gradual'?" Sesshoumaru muttered.

"-that we really didn't realize just how badly things were until it was too late and you had left."

Miroku and Sango nodded at each other resolutely and now even Sesshoumaru was curious as both moved back from the table and bowed deeply to the floor.

"We are so sorry, Inuyasha," Miroku said somberly, "for failing you as a friend and companion."

"We truly are to blame for not helping you in your time of need and as such have proven that we are not worth your friendship or your forgiveness."

"We are both truly sorry!" the both said in tandem as their heads got lower, if possible.

Inuyasha gawked at the two figures that were bowed before him in complete shock, the impact of them actually showing him- _him_ such respect was actually quite astounding.

And at the same time the fact that these two who Inuyasha admired and respected would actually be bowing to _him_ when Inuyasha had only found disgust and malice in his life was truly quite terrifying.

"Well I'll say this for them," Sesshoumaru smirked from his seat as he took another long swill of tea, "They certainly do know how to grovel."


	40. Accepting Facts

Inuyasha gasped in shock as he snatched the cup from Sesshoumaru's lax grasp, and with an elegant turn of the wrist dumped the entire contents right over Sesshoumaru's head.

Sesshoumaru was suddenly _very_ glad that he had a dislike for tea and had simply nursed the cup he had been drinking. It was quite cool as it seeped into his clothing. His temper however, was not.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing you stupid hanyou?" Sesshoumaru snapped as he immediately jumped upward and tried to shake the tea out of his hair before it managed to soak any further into the silver tresses.

Inuyasha's livid glare was just as fierce as he too jumped to his feet. "You forget that they're my _friends_ ," Inuyasha emphasized the word, "and I will not have you ridicule them!"

Miroku and Sango dared raise their heads as the watched the two Inu youkai argue. While they were not surprised that the two were arguing, as it seemed as if that was what the two brothers did best, they were surprised that Inuyasha would stand up against his brother for _them_. Even now after everything that had happened.

They both slowly made their way back to their seats and tried to stay in the back ground as they watched the exchange with complete fascination.

"'Friends'?" Sesshoumaru scoffed as he stripped out of his outer robe and started to try and squeeze the liquid out. "I thought that was the whole point of this conversation? That they weren't your friends and how they left you to the mercy of a power hungry bitch!"

Inuyasha gasped, reeling back as if he had been punched in the face. "How dare you!" he growled, his voice going low and quiet. "Take that back!"

Sesshoumaru gave the hanyou an odd look. "Take what back?" he asked as he shook out his robe, frowning at the mass of crinkles. "That they did nothing to help you when you were in a very dire situation," he turned to glare at his brother as he dropped the now ruined robe on the destroyed pink one that lay on the ever growing rat-nest. "Hate to break this to you brat, but it's the truth."

"I know that," Inuyasha growled between clenched teeth, "and it was not what I was speaking about. I don't care what they may have done in the past, they're my _friends_ and that includes Kagome."

Sesshoumaru gapped in shock as he took in the look of intense sincerity in Inuyasha's eyes completely ignoring the following two gasps from the humans. "Are you insane?" Inuyasha's glare just got darker. " _She's_ insane!" Sesshoumaru shouted at the top of his lungs waving in Kagome's general direction. "Certifiable! How can you defend her like this?"

Inuyasha's look lost the ferocity as he turned to glance at the still comatose Kagome, his look becoming more pensive and sad. "She wasn't always," he explained. "There was a time there in the beginning where we _were_ friends.

Sesshoumaru's look dropped even further. "What does _that_ have to do with anything?" he demanded. Inuyasha's logic seemed to be strung together from mismatched yarn as far as Sesshoumaru could reason. "She may have been your "friend" once but its clear form her actions that she's defiantly not anymore."

Inuyasha's frown return with vengeance as he pierced Sesshoumaru with a stern gaze that seemed to be a cross between disgust and pity, "clearly," he said softly, "you don't understand what it means to be a 'friend'."

Sesshoumaru's first reaction as to gasp and shrink back, almost as Inuyasha had done earlier, but the egotist within him refused to allow Sesshoumaru to express any emotion instead of the fierce hurt that was welling within him.

"I thought we had cleared this up before," Sesshoumaru's face lost its glare as instead, it went almost completely blank. "I _have_ no 'friends'," he stated as if reciting a well memorized play. "I am the Taiyoukai of the west; I have no _need_ of **friends**."

Inuyasha shook his head as he rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Then you have absolutely no idea what it feels like to be betrayed by a friend-"

"All the more reason not to have them," Sesshoumaru interrupted smugly as he yanked out one of the less damaged robes from his corner and tugged it on.

Inuyasha huffed in exasperation. "-nor do you realize how powerful friendship can be."

Sesshoumaru scoffed at that statement but Inuyasha wasn't finished.

"This is what it means to be a _friend_ Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha continued. "That you can forgive each other and move on!"

"But you left!" Sesshoumaru argued as he whirled around, the rope laying partially open as it hung on his lank frame. "You left to come here! Would that not mean that you consider yourselves no longer friends?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I may have left but that was for self preservation. She is, oddly enough, still my friend."

Sesshoumaru boggled. " _WHAT_?"

Inuyasha glared as he sat down once more at the table, refilling the human's tea. "I do not expect _you_ to understand," he quipped sarcastically as he set aside the kettle, "since you don't _need_ any friends."

Sesshoumaru stared at Inuyasha as the hanyou went about cleaning up breakfast and studiously ignoring him.

He glanced at the humans who were also watching Inuyasha intently. It was clear that neither could understand where the fight had come from and both were a little awed at Inuyasha's words.

Sesshoumaru glared again at Inuyasha's back before reclaiming his spot at the table, grateful that the tea had only gotten him wet and that the cushion was still moderately dry.

The two humans looked again between the two youkai apprehensively. Neither knew what they should say.

Sango glanced at the two inu-youkai once more before she nodded her head as if agreeing with whatever conclusion she had arrived at. Sango stood and very slowly made her way towards the still moving hanyou. Inuyasha's little ears swiveled back at her approach but he himself made no move to acknowledge her approach.

"Inuyasha," Sango started softly. Inuyasha still said nothing. Sango glanced back at the two at the table before a resolved look graced her features and she leaned forward to wrap the brooding hanyou into a hug.

Inuyasha stiffened as he felt arms encircle him but Sango's reassuring scent surrounded him as she gave a small squeeze before releasing him all together. He slowly turned around and was confronted with a look of pure gratefulness and still containing just a little bit of awe.

"Thank you."

Inuyasha stared at the demon slayer bemused for a moment before nodding back at her, "you're welcome," he replied and that was that.

Sango gave him a small grateful smile before returning to her seat at the table. Nothing more was needed to be said.

Sesshoumaru glared as the female sat down before turning to glare at Inuyasha who actually seemed calmer and more relaxed. His gaze whipped once more to the female, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

' _How dare that female think that she can put her hands on_ my _mate and get away with-_ '

"Yipe! Hakaisou!" There was a sudden clunk as the demon slayer brought the flat side of her weapon down onto the male's head.

"Ouch! My lady, what have I done wrong? Ouch! Ow! Hey! Stop it! INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha came back to the table, openly laughing now as he watched Sango repeatedly whap Miroku over the head.

Sesshoumaru stared at the three as they _all_ started laughing at their antics. "I'm surrounded by loons," he murmured absently as he watched the laughter move into a slight hysterical note.

Inuyasha calmed down first, wiping an escaping tear from his eye as he settled down in his seat. "Well, it's good to know some things never change."

"Indeed," Miroku groaned as he scooted a little further out of range.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the man before turning back to his now cup of water. He scowled at the liquid before turning his glare to a rather smug looking Inuyasha. Curling his lip into a small snarl, he downed the drink before reaching for the kettle himself. He may be starting to despise tea but at least it had a flavor to it and if he had a choice, Sesshoumaru would choose anything over water. He was not a pup, after all.

Inuyasha blinked as the long arm invaded his personal space to snatch the tea kettle away from him and watched with bewilderment as Sesshoumaru poured his own tea. Sesshoumaru _never_ served himself if he could help it. If Inuyasha was there he acted as if he was to be waited on hand and foot.

Sesshoumaru felt the eyes on him and gave Inuyasha a withering glare as he poured. Inuyasha's smirk returned full force as the hanyou turned to the monk across from him and offered some of the winter fruit that he had collected.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed even further as he moved to put the kettle back but it was then that his eyes caught that of the female demon slayer and found the exact same smug look as Inuyasha in _her_ eyes. Sesshoumaru tilted his head in question but the girl's smile just seemed to get bigger as she looked from one youkai to the other.

She raised her small cup and with a tilt of her head pointed in Inuyasha's direction raised it slightly in salute to Sesshoumaru before taking a decisively non-feminine gulp.

Sesshoumaru's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he stared at the woman but she had moved on into the conversation about how Inuyasha was dealing with the winter supplies for four people.

The inu-youkai felt himself slump backwards slightly in shock at the implications that the girl gave him. Inuyasha glanced at him for a moment before going back to discussing the safe topic of winter survival.

Sesshoumaru gapped slightly at the woman who even now was giving him smug looks and every time that stupid grin got bigger, his scowl got darker.

' _How dare this female,_ ' he thought angrily. ' _What does she think she knows_?' The damn smile returned.

' _She knows that I think of Inuyasha as my mate, that's what she thinks,_ ' Sesshoumaru scowled as he drained his tea and once more reached for the blasted kettle ignoring Inuyasha quizzical look number two. ' _Hell, if a pathetic little_ human _has figured it out, then all it would take is a youkai three seconds to understand the situation. Hell even_ I _don't understand the situation yet._ '

He drained the tea again and finished off the kettle, thrusting it back into Inuyasha's grasp. ' _Why does my life have to be a bloody carnival_?'

He gulped the last of his tea and looked back to where Inuyasha was making yet another pot.

Inuyasha shook his head as he felt Sesshoumaru's eyes glaring a whole on his back. ' _For someone who complains so much about tea, he sure drinks a lot of it,_ ' he mused silently.

"What I don't understand," Miroku was saying, "Was how you managed to get Shippo out of the village undetected. Everyone knew you were missing and the whole village was instructed by Kaede-sama to watch for your return."

Inuyasha sighed again as he set the kettle down with at "thunk" in front of Sesshoumaru who simply gave him a bored look. "Indeed," he drawled, startling the two humans. "I would like to know this story as well since I was not present when you fetched the brat."

Inuyasha pulled a face at his brother for a moment before turning back to Miroku. "For the hundredth time, I did _not_ go and fetch Shippo. He found me himself."

"What?" the two humans cried in unison.

"But, how could he do that?" Miroku gasped. "He's just a child!"

"A youkai child," Sesshoumaru interrupted. "Why you humans constantly forget that small detail is beyond me."

"He may be a youkai child but he is a child," Sango argued determinedly.

Miroku and even Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief that she would argue with a full grown and known powerful youaki.

Sesshoumaru glared at the girl for a moment and tension filled the other two males at the table as the looked between the two who were currently in a stare down.

Sesshoumaru's glare finally subsided as he gave the girl a mock salute with his tea and drained the cup.

Inuyasha felt the apprehension litteraly drain out of him as his body sagged slightly with releife.

Miroku however was confused. "Well, that brings us back to my original question. How did Shippo find you all by himself?"

"Because he wasn't by himself," Inuyasha drawled as he glared down at the small neko curled up on a corner portion of Sesshoumaru's discarded robes.

Kirara graced Inuyasha with a large yawn before rolling over and returning to her nap.

"Kirara brought him to you?" Sango gasped. "But why would she do that?"

It was Sesshoumaru who answered her, "never underestimate a youkai's instinct for survival," he told the slayer. "She probably saw the situation with _her_ ," and here he once more made a gesture in Kagome's vicinity, "and realized a kit would not survive the situation."

Inuyasha suppressed his surprised that Sesshoumaru was willingly contributing to the conversation but nodded his agreement nonetheless. "I think that was the reason too," he agreed.

' _ **Are you going to tell them about our wonderful communication skills**_?' Kirara's voice entered Inuyasha's mind. ' _ **After all, I know for a fact this is not a skill of**_ **mine** _ **.**_ '

' _ **Will you shut up**_!' Inuyasha scolded. ' _ **I have no idea since we discovered that Sesshoumaru can't hear you**_! _ **I thought it was just something all youkai did.**_ '

Kirara snorted in disbelief. ' _ **How'd you come to that conclusion pup**_?'

' _ **I don't know now hush, Sango's talking**_.'

"What I don't understand," Sango was saying. "Is why Kirara would do such a thing when she knows that we were taking care of him in Inuyasha's absence."

Once again it was Sesshoumaru who argued the point. "Humans," he stated simply. "You are both humans and like it or not, the kittling will _still_ be a child once you're dead and gone-"

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha scolded.

"-the blasted cat must have determined that the kitsune could only be protected by another youkai, simple as that."

"'Simple as that'," Miroku repeated.

Sango qickly whapped the monk over the head again and Inuyasha quickly moved the ceramic cups out of harms way.

"Yes, well as much as it is amusing to see you all beat each other into a bloody mess," Sesshoumaru drawled. "I still have some questions. For example, what the hell happened that made you start searching for Inuyasha?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hakaisou (n) depraved; sinful priest ((as defined on "Jeffrey's Japanese-English Dictionary Server" .com/cgi-bin/j-e/dict))


	41. Distressing Information

Sango and Miroku gapped at the youkai in shock as Inuyasha stared at his brother in horror. Sesshoumaru ignored them all and instead continued with his questions. "Did something happen with Naraku? Did you hear of something he was planning? Is he going to attack? When is he planning to strike?"

Inuyasha turned towards his friends, now in a near panic as Sesshoumaru voiced concerns that never even crossed the hanyou's mind.

' _Kami-sama, he's right,_ ' Inuyasha realized. ' _Just why_ did _they come to find me_?'

Miroku seemed very hesitant to answer the Taiyoukai's questions and glared at the youaki as if offended that he dared impose himself into their conversation.

Sango, however, had no such qualms about answering. "Actually, we weren't searching for Inuyasha," she confessed.

"You weren't?" Inuyasha asked surprised and just a little bit hurt.

"Oh, no," Sango was quick to sooth Inuyasha's ruffled feathers, "we were always looking for you; however, it wasn't you specifically we were on the lookout for when we found you."

"Then," Inuyasha frowned as glanced at the two. "What was it you were searching for?"

"Oh for Kami-Sama's sake, will you answer my question or not?" Sesshoumaru interrupted the rather heartfelt moment. "Is. Na. Ra. Ku. On. The. Move?"

"It has nothing to do with Naraku." Surprisingly it was Miroku who answered. "It's actually because of Kagome that were out in this weather."

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked surprised. "But you said you weren't searching for me and Shippo said that was all that has been on Kagome's mind since I left."

"Well it was at first," Sango started explaining. "However, now her focus has moved into another direction."

"Kagome is now almost as obsessed with finding the jeweled shards as Naraku himself," Miroku told them.

"The Jewel shards?"

"What is everyone's obsession over that rock?" Sesshoumaru huffed as he poured himself another cup of tea, absently refilling Inuyasha's when he saw that it, too, was low.

Miroku glared but continued on. "Once it became apparent that you could not be found Kagome began obsessing over the jewel shards. She would have us go out in search for them in neighboring villages at all hours."

"In the beginning," Sango continued. "We would only be out for a day or two, but as time went on and there was still no sign of any of the pieces she became even more violent."

Inuyasha gasped. "How is that even possible?" he asked in shock.

"You don't want know," Miroku admitted and Inuyasha threw him a sympathetic look.

"Each time we thought that we had a solid lead that turned out to be nothing, Kagome would get even fiercer than before," Sango continued.

"She even took Sango's boomerang and whacked me with it," Miroku admitted sheepishly. "I never really realized how much Sango pulls those hits until Kagome did it herself."

Sango gasped. "I do no such thing," she huffed. "Why would I bother pulling my hits against a hentai like you?"

"But Sango, my sweet…"

"'Sweet'?" Sango hissed angrily.

"Er, my lady, er… um…"

Inuyasha was completely tuning out the well known banter and was contemplating the boomerang with great curiosity. Getting on his hands and knees, he moved around Sango over towards the weapon.

Sesshoumaru quickly drained both his _and_ Inuyasha's tea, grabbing Miroku's for good measure as Inuyasha's pert little derriere presented itself in his direct line of vision.

' _I never thought I would see the day that I would willingly try to drown myself on tea_ ,' he thought absently as he watched Inuyasha's back arch as he reached forward to drag the boomerang towards himself. ' _Is it possible for lightning to actually shoot into a cave and strike me down_?'

Sesshoumaru reached for Sango's tea only to jerk back as her had came down automatically onto his with a smart "smack". "Damn wench," he muttered before returning to stare –drool- over Inuyasha's qualifying attributes.

Hell, even the inner curve of the Hanyou's feet were starting to tempt Sesshoumaru into more sensual ideas as he memorized every curve of Inuyasha's body only marred by the large clothing Inuyasha was wont to wear. ' _Scissors; I need scissors._ '

"Whoa," Inuyasha's voice snapped Sesshoumaru out of his haze like dream of what would actually happen if he had scissors. "This thing is heavy even for me," Inuyasha continued.

Sango nodded as she slid the weapon to her side with ease. "It was one of the four great weapons of my clan, passed down by generations. It took me _years_ for my body to finally handle the weight."

Miroku even reached over and tried to lift the impressive item, only managing to lift in four inches off the ground, even with both hands. "I don't understand," he muttered. "Kagome wielded it with such easy single handedly."

Sesshoumaru actually looked contemplative as he watched the three alternately lift the weapon. "Idiots," he finally announced, causing all three to whirl around to glare at him. "Did any of you stop to think that it may be due to the jewel shards the girl already possesses?" he asked in a bored tone.

Inuyasha took the bait. "What's due to them?"

"The girl's strength," Sesshoumaru explained with a small satisfied grin. "As a priestess, she has the ability to draw on the jewels powers." ' _I figured it out. I figured it out. I'm better than you. Nya, nya…_ ' he mentally crowed in childish glee as he took another swig of tea and finished off the pot, holding the kettle out to Inuyasha expectantly.

The other three at the table blinked in surprise while Inuyasha simply tossed the kettle back towards the fire, much to Sesshoumaru's dismay. How was he to occupy himself without tea?

"Does she still have the jewel shards with her?" Inuyasha asked his two friends hesitantly. The other two solemnly nodded and Inuyasha glanced at the still unconscious Kagome.

After a few moments, he nodded his own head sharply and climbed to his feet. With a last look at the group around the table, the hanyou slowly made his way towards his cot.

Miroku and Sango both stood up when the realized exactly what it was that Inuyasha was up to, both ready with their respective weapons as Miroku held his staff in front of him, ready for anything. Both gave Inuyasha an encouraging look while Sesshoumaru watched on in feigned boredom even though his eyes traced Inuyasha's every move.

Inuyasha turned back to the task at hand as he slowly made his way to the comatose girl. Her outfit had changed for winter and she now had on a pair of pants that she once called "jeans" and a bright red puffy coat.

Carefully he knelt down beside her, watching her face for any hint that Kagome was on the verge of waking up. Taking a deep breath, he slowly took the silver "Zipper Tag" in his two clawed fingers and slowly brought the zipper down, the small rasping sound it made echoing in the hushed quiet of the cave.

Sango and Miroku tensed at the sound, both shifting nervously as they watched Inuyasha with clear apprehension.

Sesshoumaru's facial expression did not change in anyway, however Sango noticed the tight grip the youkai had on his tea cup and relaxed her stance slightly, comfortable in the knowledge that if Kagome were to suddenly wake, Sesshoumaru would protect the smaller youkai.

The only thing that worried Sango however was would the Taiyoukai show any restraint in dealing with the crazed Kagome.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, had managed to get the zipper all the way down and was slowly parting the red fabric, revealing the mauve sweater below. He could already see the chain for the fused jewel shards that Kagome wore trailing down into the neckline of the fuzzy fabric and with a quick glance once more to ensure that the girl was still unconscious; he very slowly brought his hand towards her neck and hooked the thin chain with a claw.

Checking her once more he very carefully brought the chain upward. Extremely slowly, he started moving the chain around looking for the small clasp that Kagome had first shown him when she first set the Jewel shard.

"Where the hell are you?" he muttered slightly under his breath.

"Squeak?"

Everyone stopped at the sound.

Ever so slowly, Inuyasha brought his head upward until golden eyes met small beady black ones.

Inuyasha gapped in shock.

Sango and Miroku stared in horror.

Sesshoumaru actually saluted the little vermin with his empty tea cup.

It wasn't every day that a rat climbed onto the unconscious face of the crazy priestess.

The rat squeaked happily once more before moving forward and brought his jaw down around the thin silver chain in Inuyasha's grasp.

"Kuufuku!" Inuyasha gasped as the animal dragged the jewel shards towards himself before vaulting off Kagome's nose.

"What the-?" Miroku cried out as the rat darted between his legs and made a "rat" dive into his pile of pilfered robes.

"Quick, he's got the shard!" Inuyasha cried out as he moved to the pile and started throwing robes every which way; the still tea soaked one artlessly landing on Sesshoumaru's head.

The Taiyoukai pulled it off with some distaste and watched the three dig through the pile. "Again I ask, 'what is the fascination with the stupid pink rock'?"

"Damn it, Sesshoumaru! Stop sitting there and frigging help us!" Inuyasha snapped as the pink robe nearly landed in the fire. "We can't let him leave with it! Naraku still has his minions searching for it!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow before pointing towards the other side of the cave. "He went that-a-way."

The three stopped and stared at where Sesshoumaru pointed towards his own little cot.

"And then he went that way," he pointed towards the still unconscious Kagome, "before going that way," now pointing towards the passage towards the storage cave.

"Damn, he's going for the clubhouse!"

"The what?" Sango asked dazed as she followed Inuyasha's sprint towards the tunnel.

"I'll explain later, but you two will have to go in and get him!" Inuyasha said before snapping over his shoulder. "Kirara! You're a Neko-Youkai, get the rat!"

Sesshoumaru watched the three disappear down the corridor before glancing back at the small twin tailed neko who let out a dainty yawn before slowly getting to her feet. Taking her time to stretch her front paws before stepping forwards and stretching her back, the small neko made her way over to the table, gracefully jumping onto the shinny surface.

Lapping up what remained of her mistress's tea, the small youkai licked her chops before trotting over towards Sesshoumaru, dropping like a rock into his lap.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the now once again sleeping neko.

"Comfortable?" his voice dripped in sarcasm.

The blasted thing started purring.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha's voice bellowed out of the tunnel. "Where the hell did he go?"

"How the hell should I know?" he called back irritably. "I just told you what I saw," he clarified as Inuyasha emerged from the shadows.

"Danm, then he must have ducked out the small exit."

Sesshoumaru bit back the urge to reply "well duh". Instead occupied himself with stroking the small cat.

Sango's eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw where exactly her familiar had settled and even Inuyasha glared at the creature.

' _ **Are we comfy**_?' he asked angrily.

Kirara gave him a smug grin, ' _ **Jealous**_?'

Inuyasha gasped. ' _ **I am**_ **not**!' he countered zealously.

' _ **Someone protests too much,**_ ' Kirara's voice sang in Inuyasha's head.

"What will we do?" Miroku's voice interrupted any reply that Inuyasha may have had.

"I never expected a rat to take the shards," Sango admitted.

"Kuufuku?" Inuyasha asked surprised. "Actually I'm not surprised at all."

"Does this mean I finally get to do the rat in?" Sesshoumaru asked hopefully.

Inuyasha gave Sesshoumaru a rather considering look before the two children wandered into the cave.

"Hey Inuyasha! What was Kuufuku doing with this?" Shippo asked as he held up the small necklace.

Inuyasha crowed in triumph as he took the item from the small kitsune and Sesshoumaru visibly deflated.

"Damn." He muttered as he glared at the rat in Rin's arms, who for all Sesshoumaru could tell, was laughing hysterically at him in his rat like chuckle.

"New plan!" Sesshoumaru announced, his voice carrying over the small din of Inuyasha's explanation to the two adults about the family's "pet".

The whole group turned to stare at Sesshoumaru with utter confusion in their eyes.

"Forget trying to defeat Naraku in even combat," he announced as he righted the tea kettle and started searching through Inuyasha's little boxes of leaves.

He looked up, his eyes actually shining with suppressed mirth. "We'll just send the rat."


	42. Two of a Feather Flock Together

The group boggled as Sesshoumaru happily continued to make tea, actually whistling a little tune as he set the water to boil.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha. "That was unexpected."

"Yeah, that happens a lot around here," Inuyasha admitted as he moved back to the table, staring at Sesshoumaru uncertainty.

Shippo and Rin darted towards the table as well, Shippo shaking off the snow where most of it "accidentally" landed on Sesshoumaru.

The taiyoukai glared at the kit before he huffed and marched out of the cave.

Inuyasha watched him go, just a little bit alarmed by Sesshoumaru's sudden attitude before he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Inuyasha-sama," Rin looked up at him. "What's for lunch?"

Inuyasha blinked in surprise. "Lunch?" and he glanced once more out the cave door where Sesshoumaru was just returning, his one arm now at rest behind his back. "Oh no, has it really been that long?" he asked in surprise as he quickly jumped up and made his way towards the stores. "I'll be right back."

"Inuyasha," Sango quickly made her way to his side. "would you care for some assistance?" she asked.

Inuyasha sagged in relief. "That actually would be great!"

"YIPE! COLD!"

They quickly looked back into the cave where Shippo was now dancing around the table trying to get the large clumps of snow from going down his shirt collar.

Miroku was staring at Sesshoumaru in unhidden surprise as the youkai regally sat back down in his seat and poured himself a fresh cup of tea.

Sango and Inuyasha both shrugged before moving into the passage, discussing what would be best for lunch for six people.

"Ooooo," Shippo growled as he finally managed to rid himself of all the snow. "You know this means war!" the little kit growled.

"Hah!" Sesshoumaru scoffed. "I've been fighting in real wars before your parents even considered you existence!"

He leaned forward till his nose was nearly touching the small kit's "Just try it."

Shippo, unfortunately for Sesshoumaru, took that as the okay, and shoved some of the snow collected from his shoulders right into the youkai's smirking visage.

Miroku quickly hid a snort of laughter with one hand as a small cluster of snow lazily slid off one elegantly soaked eyebrow to land over the youkai's eye.

The growl that emanated from the youkai however quickly squashed any mirth from the monk and he reached for his own warding beads incase Sesshoumaru proved to be vengeful. He glanced quickly in the direction Inuyasha had gone and hoped that the hanyou would return quickly to quell the situation.

Shippo apparently had the same idea as he quickly scampered after Inuyasha's wake and out of sight.

Sesshoumaru stopped his growling and was now simply wiping up the rapidly melting snow off his face as Rin played with the re-confiscated Kirara.

Miroku was at a loss.

The whole situation was completely surreal to him. Nothing at all what he would have expected of Sesshoumaru forced into a situation with Shippo and Inuyasha. He would have expected Sesshoumaru to be lording over all of them; making outlandish orders or some such nonsense.

In truth, the whole thing seemed… normal…

' _Bizarre,_ ' Miroku mused as he watched Sesshoumaru go back to his tea and continue to wipe the snow from his lap.

The youkai finished and Miroku found himself caught in an unwilling staring contest with the older man.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the fidgety monk before him as he took another sip of tea.

"So, you get hit in the head often?"

Miroku jumped at the sudden question. "Um, er, well actually… um-"

Sesshoumaru sighed, any hope for a somewhat civil conversation evaporating like the water on the floor as he poured another cup. "I'll just take that as a yes, shall I?"

Miroku puffed out angrily but Inuyasha and Sango returned before he could reply.

"Hope everyone likes rabbit," Inuyasha announced, ignoring the face that Shippo was pulling behind him. Obviously the little fox had voted against the rabbit but had been over-ruled.

"Oh, rabbit should be fine," Miroku replied.

Sesshoumaru simply ignored everyone.

"Well I mind," Shippo voiced angrily. "I hate rabbit."

"I could always feed you a squirrel," Inuyasha retorted.

"How 'bout rat?" Sesshoumaru mused, eyeing the "Gray Fur Ball of Doom"- patent pending.

"Damn it Sesshoumaru, behave." Inuyasha hissed.

"Why?" Sesshoumaru snapped back. "It's not like we're trying to impress foreigner dignitaries, not that you ever could," he added absently. "They are, as you say, your friends and why the fuck should I care what your friends think of me?"

Inuyasha gave Sesshoumaru the evil look number four before turning back to Shippo, "looks like your saved kid, the squirrel is going to someone else."

Shippo laughed outright and Inuyasha smirked triumphantly as Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the threat.

"I'm positively shaking in fear."

"As well you should be," Inuyasha returned. "Squirrel meat is really tough."

"Should I take you as an expert on squirrel meat?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Eat what you can catch, and for some reason all I could ever catch as a kid was squirrels."

Sesshoumaru tired not to let that information sink heavily into his chest instead responding with, "Should it be any wonder considering how extraordinarily _stupid_ squirrels are?"

"Considering I was fishing? Yes, you should."

Miroku blinked. "How did you catch squirrels if you were fishing?"

"Took me a while to figure out that I should use worms for fish, not acorns."

Sesshoumaru neatly cuffed Inuyasha on the back of the head as the hanyou walked by. "Even _you_ are not that stupid."

"I was a kid!" Inuyasha protested.

Sesshoumaru snorted into his tea, no longer believing a word the came out of Inuyasha's mouth as he spun a tail of ravenous squirrels attacking him for his acorns for the two children.

Sango and Miroku laughed merrily at the exuberated tale as they helped Inuyasha with the salted meat, Kirara and Kuufuku both subtly trying to sneak pieces of meat from the pan.

' _Oh Kami-Sama,_ ' Sesshoumaru suddenly realized, ' _this is actually feeling… homey…_ '

He looked around at all the other occupant in dawning horror.

' _Where the fuck is that lightning_?'

Inuyasha noticed the stricken look on his brother's face and gave him and inquisitive look.

Sesshoumaru simply shook his head as he took another swill of tea.

Inuyasha shrugged it off and helped Sango locate the few spices he kept for flavor.

Lunch was a quick affair. Gratefully one minus the squirrel meat thought Inuyasha threatened it a few more times.

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome a few times as he absently nibbled on his last slice of meat. "What are we to do with her?" he asked pointing in the girl's direction.

Sango and Miroku both went silent as they too looked over at the girl.

"We can't keep her at Kaede's village any longer," Sango finally spoke up. "Even the villagers were starting to become fearful."

"Well she defiantly can't stay here!" Inuyasha protested. "That's why I left in the first place!"

"Couldn't you just shove her down that well of hers?" Sesshoumaru asked as he snatched another piece of meat from Shippo's plate when the kit wasn't looking.

Inuyasha glared but said noting of the theft, instead answered his brothers question with a shake of his head.

"That wouldn't be right either," he explained. "We have to figure out what's wrong with her. Her family should have to be burdened with this."

"Why shouldn't they?" Sesshoumaru argued. "They are, as you say, her family."

Inuyasha sagged. "I know, but for some reason, I just feel responsible."

"Oh that is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard." Sesshoumaru exclaimed. "How is it your fault that her attitude in down the sewer?"

"He's right," Sango agreed. "None of this is your fault."

"But what if it is?" Inuyasha burst out. "What if me pushing her so hard to find the jewel shards made her snap?"

Miroku and Sango looked at Inuyasha helplessly, neither knowing what to say.

"Just what _was_ it that made the witch snap anyway?" Sesshoumaru asked finally. He received four shrugs and a small wine from the neko. He rolled his eyes. "Did any of you try to find out?"

Inuyasha stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"That undead preistestss of your's, what does she have to say about it?"

"Kikyou? What about her?"

"She is the girls other half, is she not? Has she not noticed anything unfamiliar?

Inuyasha shook his head, his eyes widening in realization. "We haven't seen Kikyou for a few months now."

"Well what about all of father's retainers that for some reason or another seem to like you best?" Sesshoumaru asked. "That flea creature and the others. What do _they_ have to say about the situation?"

Inuyasha blinked. "um…"

Sesshoumaru actually slouched back in astonishment. "You didn't **ask**?"

"Well, what would they know about it?"

Sesshoumaru looked around the little table in growing disbelief. "I thought you never brought it up because it had been dismissed." He muttered absently. "Did none of you think that maybe she's possessed under a spell cast by Naraku?"

The other adults stared at him blankly.

Sesshoumaru threw down his piece of bunny bone and cupped his forehead into his palm, "I'm surrounded by idiots," he muttered. "Did none of you think to take her to a _real_ healer? Not those so-called human healers but a spiritual one?"

Three shakes of the head confirmed his suspicion.

"Well then, there you are. The first order of business," he announced as he once again picked up his lunch and started eating again.

Inuyasha and the others shared a look.

"And just where are we suppose to find a 'spiritual healer'?" he asked sarcastically.

Sesshoumaru glared. "You seem to make friends where ever you go," was his snide reply. "I'm sure one of the other demon tribes has a youki healer among them, it's not the same as a ningen's reiki but close enough for what you want to find out."

He reached for his tea to clear out his throat. "What of that Ookami tribesman? Koma?"

"Kouga," Inuyasha corrected.

"What about him?"

Inuyasha sat back with a huff and crossed his arms. "Never in a million years will I ask for that wolfs help," he announced.

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "Then I'm fresh out of ideas."

He returned to the remains of his meal so it took Sesshoumaru a few moment to realize that an utter calmness have enveloped the cave. Not wanting to look up, Sesshoumaru slowly took a deep breath and glanced up ward.

The entire _table_ was staring at him.

"Nani?"

"The western palace has healers…" Inuyasha started slowly.

"Oh hell no!" Sesshoumaru protested, but anything else he was about to say was drowned out but the high pitched scream.

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou whirled around to find Kagome standing like an angel of hell, glaring daggers at him as she advanced. Sesshoumaru quickly leaping over the table to stand in front of Inuyasha before anyone else could so much as gasp at Kagome's recovery.

"How dare you hit me!" Kagome continued completely ignoring Sesshoumaru's presence. "You will _pay_ for disobeying me! Once I replace the beads you will spend the rest of your life in the dirt do you hear me? Do You HEAR me?"

Sesshoumaru Started to withdraw toukujin when Suddenly, Kagome went completely silent, her mouth an "O" of surprise as her eyes suddenly rolled backwards and she once more slumped to the ground.

The group stared in disbelief at the once again comatose Kagome laid prostrate at their feet before slowly looking upward at the strange man who was causally throwing a rock up and catching it one handed, a smug look on his face.

"Man," the stranger smirked at the shocked group, "and I thought _I_ had fucked up friends."


	43. The Loony Lord

Seven pairs of eyes just stared at the newest interruption to the tranquility of the cave. Four of the cave's occupants instantly fell into defensive stances, one groaned into his teacup, one waved cheerfully at the new arrival and one continued to gnaw on the pile of pink robes.

Miroku and Sango weren't quite sure what to do as Inuyasha just looked at his brother who had remained at the table curiously before flicking his eyes back to the youkai in the entryway of the cave and it was clear he was a youkai. Shippo had tensed and Kirara had stepped in front of the small kit in a protective stance though she stayed in her smaller form.

The man that stood before them had to be some sort of lizard youkai if the scales on his arms, legs and face were anything to go by. His eyes were a silted gold as they looked about the occupants of the cave.

If the fact that he was a youkai, and clearly a strong one at that since he seemed to radiate confidence and power, almost just as Sesshoumaru did when he faced them wasn't startling enough, then the mass accumulation of weapons he wore on his person was defiantly a reason to pause.

The man had almost every type of weapon on him. He looked like some sort of walking armory over the green jade armor he wore.

Not just a katana and bow and arrows but there seemed to be a Bisento at his waist, a Yari peeking over his shoulder, a Wakizashi along with the katana and a Hoko on his opposite hip. On his arm guards were throwing knives and needles respectively and around his chest was a chain wrapped from shoulder to his opposite hip. There were even a few Tanto's strapped to his calves.

Everywhere on his person was either scales, armor or weapons. The only thing he wasn't wearing was a helmet and his long black hair looked even longer than Sesshoumaru's even though it was tied up in a rather intricate set of braids that swished around his shoulders as he looked about curiously. It was probably longer untied.

All in all, the man was down right intimidating. However not to a small human child it seemed as the girl waved frantically at the youkai. "Good afternoon Eiki-sama!" Rin called out cheerfully, causing Sesshoumaru to groan into his teacup for a second time. Kuufuku just continued to chew on Sesshoumaru's discarded robes rather fretfully.

"Ah, Rin-chan! It's so nice to see you again! And Sesshoumaru! Have you done away with that infernal servant of yours? Any scent of his is a few months old at least," the so-called "Eiki-sama" chirped, _chirped_ as he tossed the rock over his shoulder and moseyed into the cave proper, stepping over Kagome's slumped form and dropping down next to Sesshoumaru, grinning madly. "Ohh! Tea!"

Sesshoumaru held his cup out of the youkai's reach. "Get your own cup," he snarled and the other youkai actually pouted.

"Oh learn to share you mangy ingrate," Eiki huffed and reached for the cup again, causing Sesshoumaru to lean even further to the side, almost falling over at one point.

Inuyasha and the others glanced at one another confused before Inuyasha finally relaxed his pose somewhat, though he kept his one hand on Tetsusaiga and the other up and claws out. "Who the heck are you?" he asked rather put out at the man's sudden appearance and Sesshoumaru's rather exasperated attitude he took towards the stranger. The fact that he and the others were being essentially ignored was a bit of a sore point also.

Gold silted eyes slid towards Inuyasha and the hanyou had to keep from flinching at the piercing, assessing gaze that raked over his form. "Hmm," the man hummed appreciatively before he turned towards Sesshoumaru who was filling his teacup for a third time and downed the contents in one gulp. "Sesshoumaru you _dog_ you! No wonder you haven't been at court! You've had a bit of fluff on the sly!"

Inuyasha could feel the outrage begin to build in his gut and heard both Sango and Miroku gasp behind him but Sesshoumaru beat them all to it as he set down his cup, snagged the man by the main brain on the back of his head and slam his face into the table top so forcefully that a crack appeared in the wood.

"Don't be vulgar," Sesshoumaru growled as he picked the teacup back up only to frown as he realized it was empty.

The other youkai didn't seem the least bit fazed as he sat back up and glanced at Inuyasha curiously again. "No? Does that mean he's free?"

"No!" Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha snapped simultaneously.

The man pouted before a sly grin graced his features and leaning over he actually draped an arm around Sesshoumaru's shoulders and what was so shocking was that Sesshoumaru did absolutely nothing about the sudden contact. Just continued to pour himself another cup of tea as the man leaned against him.

"So what about you, hmm?" The man purred. "Are you ever going to take me up on my offer for… 'Reestablishing our treaty'?"

Sesshoumaru set down the cup again before reaching up and digging his claws into the man's hand clamped firmly on his shoulder. The scent of steaming poison wafted from the pair but the scales on the man's hand seemed immune to the Inu Taishou's poison. "Drop it Eiki."

"Aw come on!" the now confirmed "Eiki" pouted as he dutifully removed his arm and leaned back casually. "What's wrong with wanting to have some fun?"

" 'Having some fun' is all you want to do," Sesshoumaru frowned as he sipped his tea. What he wouldn't give for some sake at that point in time. He always needed a good amount of sake bottles when dealing with the other man's infuriating cheerfulness.

The fact that nothing ever seemed to faze Eiki either was another mark against him. Add to it that all he ever did was try to mate with anything that moved, including Sesshoumaru, was another.

The fact that they had once been lover's decades before only encouraged Eiki to "reestablish" their previous relationship at every turn. Sesshoumaru sighed and reached for the Teakettle again.

Eiki stuck his tongue out and Miroku started at the pointy, forked tip. "Spoil sport," Eiki huffed before he glanced about the cave. "Seriously though, this is the last place I would have expected you to be. Though you're more often than not found outside the Western palace than in it."

"Can you blame me?" Sesshoumaru drawled as he frowned at the now empty teakettle. With a scowl, he set the kettle aside and turned his attention fully on the other youkai.

"Wish I could just leave whenever I damn well felt like it," Eiki sighed wistfully.

"And yet here you are," Sesshoumaru retorted. "What are you doing here anyhow?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Eiki chirped as he sat back up fully. "Looking for you."

"For me?" Sesshoumaru echoed. "Why didn't you send one of your own servants with a letter or something?"

"Don't you think I've tried?" Eiki huffed. "No one could _find_ you! Not even your advisors or councilmen knew where you were."

"Again, can you blame me?"

"No actually, in that regards I can't," Eiki sighed. "If my councilmen were such old stubborn tight asses I'd run as often as I can too."

"Like you need such an excuse."

Eiki seemed to consider this for a moment. "True. Why don't you just boot the lot out?"

"Then I would have to find people to replace them. _Competent_ people to replace them, and until then _I_ would have to deal with everything and I very much rather not be bothered."

Eiki snorted as he reached behind him and dragged the pot that had held the rice within towards him. "Heaven forbid you actually take to acting like the lord you are," he huffed before he snagged a pair of chopsticks off the table.

Sesshoumaru absently noted that they had been used by the monk and shrugged. At least he hadn't taken the ones Inuyasha used. "The council is competent enough to deal with the goings on at the palace."

"Hmm?" Eiki raised a brow. "Are you sure of that?" he drawled rather pointedly.

Sesshoumaru frowned slightly. "Why?"

Eiki smirked as he shoveled another bite of rice into his mouth before he glanced over at their rapt audience. Sesshoumaru frowned before he gestured towards them. "Never mind them, they have no barring to anything."

"Excuse me?" Inuyasha gasped outraged. "You're currently in _my_ home! If you want to catch up with your buddy here, you can leave!"

Eiki snickered but quickly stifled it with another bite of rice as Sesshoumaru turned a quick glare at him before turning back to Inuyasha who was clearly fuming. "Even if you cared one way or the other about one thing that goes on with the ruling of a land, you are still a koinu and therefore are not old enough to be involved in the affairs of state."

"What!" Inuyasha squawked. "I ain't no puppy!" Both Sesshoumaru and Eiki's gazes flicked up to his ears. "Damn it! You know what I mean!"

Miroku quickly placed a hand on Inuyasha's elbow as if to restrain him while Sango finally lowered her boomeranged. "So you're from the palace? Are you one of the local landlords?"

Sesshoumaru smirked as Eiki proceeded to choke on some rice. "Wha-?"

Sango and Miroku frowned confused while Inuyasha continued to growl. "You're not? Then why were you searching for Sesshoumaru?"

Eiki glanced over at Sesshoumaru rather taken aback. "Just 'Sesshoumaru'?" he echoed. "Since when are you so friendly with humans?"

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Humans wouldn't know respect if it came up and bit them."

"Damn it, will one of ya tell me what the fuck is going on?" Inuyasha snarled as he glared at the two full youkai in front of him before pointing at the one to the left. "Who _is_ this?"

Eiki smirked while Sesshoumaru frowned at him, looking as if he was about to chastise Inuyasha for his own lack of respect that he was showing but Inuyasha decided didn't want to hear it. "Ya know what? I don't care! Get out!"

"No! Inuyasha-Sama!" Rin cried out horrified and the pot clattered onto the table as Eiki turned to stare at Sesshoumaru in disbelief.

"Inuyasha? _The_ Inuyasha?" he repeated in astonishment.

Inuyasha ignored the shocked youkai as he turned to Rin. "No, not you Rin. They can go outside to talk! And get their own food!" he finished as he snatched the pot off the table.

Eiki didn't seem to notice however as his attention was still focused squarely on Sesshoumaru who was looking anywhere but at the other youkai. "What is he doing in the Western lands?" Eiki finally asked.

Sesshoumaru gave him a puzzled look. "Where else would my pup of a brother be?"

Now it was Eiki who looked confused as they both ignored Inuyasha's protest of not a pup. "Something isn't adding up here," he mused as he reached down to pick up the pot again. He blinked when he realized that it was gone before turning to Inuyasha who clung the pot to his chest and just _glared_ at the two seated at the table. "Though now that I know what to look for, you do look a lot alike."

Sesshoumaru snorted and Inuyasha glared harder. Eiki snickered. "Definitely alike," he affirmed before he looked back at Sesshoumaru. Tilting his head he looked from Sesshoumaru to the snarling Inuyasha and back to Sesshoumaru before turning back to Inuyasha again. "Interesting."

"What is interesting?" Sesshoumaru asked rather absently as he tried to glare Inuyasha into submission. The only thing it accomplished was making Inuyasha's growling louder.

"Oh nothing," Eiki smirked as he tapped the chopsticks against his lips. "Just trying to figure everything out in my head. So your brother is the reason you're here? Family visitation or … something more?"

Sesshoumaru frowned. "What _are_ you talking about?"

Eiki just smiled wider.

"Damn it!" everyone jumped as Inuyasha slammed the pot down on the table, causing the crack to lengthen slightly. "Who. Are. You?" he demeaned pointing towards the reptilian youkai.

Eiki just grinned as Sesshoumaru scowled at Inuyasha. "This," Sesshoumaru said through somewhat gritted teeth, "is Lord Eiki, the Tokage Taishou of the Eastern lands."

Eiki's grin grew bigger as he held up a hand in greeting. "Yo!"

Dead silence descended upon the cave as everyone just stared at Eiki in astonishment and Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes upwards at the casual greeting. "Moron."


	44. Trouble on the Home Front

Struggling to dig himself out of the snow, Sesshoumaru huffed angrily as he shook his head in order to remove the cold clumps of the wet stuff clinging to hair.

Eiki was still laying spread eagle in the snow next to him, grinning up at the stars like a loon. "Strong one isn't he, your brother?"

Sesshoumaru just continued to glare at the snow where Inuyasha had booted him angrily. He had been so focused on his tea and trying not to give any of his feelings for his brother away to the other youkai lord beside him he had not seen Inuyasha coming and had been tossed out of the cave before he knew what had happened.

Eiki had been tossed mere seconds after him but Sesshoumaru had a feeling that the other male had simply allowed Inuyasha to manhandle him out of the cave. The pervert probably enjoyed it.

That had Sesshoumaru growling again and Eiki finally glanced over at him. "So someone's finally been able to get under that thick hide of yours, huh?"

Sesshoumaru shot him a glare as he finally clambered to his feet and shook the snow off his robes again. ' _I wonder if I can have Jaken send me more robes when he gets to the palace,_ ' he mused absently.

Eiki shifted over until he was lying on his side, his elbow propped up and his head cupped in his palm. "There were many who were wondering what your little half-human brother was like."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

"To warrant such negative reactions from you whenever he was brought up, of course we were curious."

"He's a hanyou," Sesshoumaru couldn't help but sneer.

"And yet, here you are… with him."

"I'm not exactly with him seeing as we're outside," Sesshoumaru drawled.

"And there are humans to boot! Since when do you allow humans to live? Bar your young Rin." Sesshoumaru didn't bother to respond to that as he ensured his clothing was in pristine condition. "And a kitsune kit! Honestly Sesshoumaru, this is some _strange_ company you're keeping."

"You're more than welcome to _leave_ ," Sesshoumaru bit out pointedly.

Eiki dropped back down in the snow with a huff and went back to looking at the stars.

Frowning, Sesshoumaru moved towards the other Youkai lord, looking down at the seemingly perfectly relaxed man. "What _are_ you doing here?"

Peeking up at Sesshoumaru who was towering over him once again, Eiki sat up back up. "You can't tell me you don't know?"

"Clearly not," Sesshoumaru drawled, looking about for something to sit on. He wasn't about to sit back down in the snow.

Eiki was now the one frowning up at him. "Your council."

That brought Sesshoumaru's attention back around and away from his half-hearted search for a seat. "What?"

"Why else would I be asking you all those questions about them earlier?" Eiki rolled his eyes. "There's a problem in your council."

Sesshoumaru shot his fellow lord a hard look. "What _are_ you nattering on about?"

Finally clambering up onto his own feet, Eiki stared right into Sesshoumaru's gaze. "I'm talking about the small squads of _your_ people attacking the border villages in the surrounding territories."

There was a small stunned silence before an outraged " _NANI_?" bellowed over the small clearing.

A burst of chatter came from the crude dwelling and the human female seemed to be the only one brave enough to peek out at the two youkai lords outside but seeing as they were just standing there staring at one another she quickly ducked back into the warmth of the cave.

Sesshoumaru finally let out a growl as he started pacing. "Bandits?" he bit out.

"That's what we thought at first," Eiki admitted. "But it was far too many attacks and even with the increase of my soldier's presence, they're still full on attacks. They're far too professional at what they do. Definitely military dressed as average citizens."

"And you know they're my citizens because…?"

Eiki let out a snort. "They didn't bother to hide where they came from. They came from Western territories and disappeared into Western territories."

"That doesn't mean that they necessarily are _from_ the Western lands."

"Oh when are you going to open your eyes?" Eiki suddenly burst out. "Your so busy trying to find your epic battle with the strongest opponent you can find that you've lost sight of what's going on in your own court!"

Sesshoumaru scowled at him. "And exactly what have I missed going on in my own court?"

Eiki's expression went from anger to sympathetic in under a second flat. "Your councilmen have taken over your place as lord and are leading the Western lands into war."

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru started pacing again. "That's impossible. The Western lands are richer than most territories combined. … no offense."

"None taken," Eiki shrugged. "It's true. The West is the most rich in both land and water. Not to mention game."

"Exactly. So what on Earth would we need to go to war over?"

"Power, what else?" Eiki scoffed.

"The councilmen already have the power."

"Ah, but it's not _theirs_ , is it?" Eiki countered. "It's _yours_."

Sesshoumaru shot him another look but didn't stop pacing. He didn't want to admit it, but Eiki had a point. He hadn't been back to court in over year. ' _Or has it been two_?' he wondered absently.

He honestly couldn't remember anymore and that actually startled him.

Sesshoumaru hated court more than anything. He always had, even when he had attended with his father and mother. Nothing but pathetic weaklings coming to them with their petty grievances expecting them to pick through the small annoyances and declare who was less wrong.

He never thought that he would ever have to worry about any corruption in his own court. These councilmen were the same ones who served under his own father for crying out loud. That they would go behind his back and try to provoke war...

Something Eiki said earlier suddenly bubbled up to the surface of his thoughts and he glanced at the lizard youkai. "You said you were at the western palace?"

Eiki nodded. "Looking for you," he confirmed. "Among other things."

"You served grievances," Sesshoumaru deduced.

"We were requesting assistance flushing out the so called 'bandits' that were terrorizing _both_ border towns."

"There were attacked towns in the west?" Sesshoumaru asked puzzled.

"They were made to _look_ like they were attacked, that's for sure."

Sesshoumaru let out a growl and resumed pacing again. This did not sound good.

Eiki watched him for a while before he sat back down in the snow and stretched his legs back out. "You have to admit, they clearly have some balls."

Finally coming to a standstill, Sesshoumaru once again stood over him. "What were your observations when in front of them?"

Eiki frowned. "Two of your eldest councilmen were clearly uneasy and the younger one was obviously being bullied into doing what the other three wanted."

Letting out a sigh, he stood back up and finally dusted off the snow. "I'm sure you know which three I'm talking about?"

"I do indeed," Sesshoumaru snarled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. ' _Susumu,_ _Yasuo and Chikai_ _… I should have known._ '

"There's much to be said for not cleaning out the old bones once the previous lord drops," Eiki chuckled.

"Mind yourself Eiki," Sesshoumaru growled.

Eiki just quirked and eye ridge. "You have to admit, keeping your fathers council instead of instilling your own showed that not only did you not _care_ about who was running your lands but you yourself had no _interest_ in running your lands. You allowed corruption to fester in your court and you have no one to blame but yourself."

"We shall see whose festering at the end," Sesshoumaru growled, his hand clenching so his claws practically dug into his palm.

Eiki grinned at this. "A little early spring cleaning?"

"Ineed."

"Wonderful. Are you going to start with the hanyou then?"

"WHAT?" Sesshoumaru lunged and snagged the front of Eiki's armor. "How _dare_ you!" he began, but the knowing smirk on the Tokage's face showed that Sesshoumaru had fallen right into his trap.

"A little protective of your ototo there, aren't you?" Eiki sneered. "Or is it another reason you're so sensitive of any negative coments made his way."

"You're out of line," Sesshoumaru growled, pushing the other man back as he released his grip on the armor.

"I do believe he protests too much," Eiki smirked.

"You-"

"Sesshoumaru-Sama? Are you all right?" Rin poked her head out from the cave, bringing both youkai out of their stare down.

Standing up straight, Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly before decisively turning away first and bringing his focus to the small child peering out at them.

He blinked. ' _Correction. Children_ ,' he corrected as he saw Shippo also staring at them from around the young girl.

It took a moment for him to comprehend that there was something wrong with the two children being able to watch them and it too a bit for him to realize that the small cloth that was being used as a doorway had disappeared. After glancing around a bit he finally dug it out of the snow it had been half buried under.

Eiki watched him amused as he shook the cloth out to get rid of the white powder. "You seem to have been thoroughly tamed by that hanyou," he observed smugly.

Kicking a pile of snow towards the lizard demon, he made his way back into cave, ignoring the ringing of laughter behind him.

Shippo and Rin had moved back into the cave proper, Rin going to Sango to see if she there was a comb she could use to brush Kirara's fur while Shippo moved over to where Miroku was going over a small book.

It seemed as if they had moved the human witch- priestess, he meant priestess, back to Inuyasha's pallet and Sesshoumaru couldn't help but sneer at the sight.

' _I'll have to remember to burn that bedding later on_ ,' Sesshoumaru reminded himself. Never mind that it was Inuyasha's property, it was actually _because_ it was Inuyasha's that he wanted to burn it. Now that the human female had tainted it,

Speaking of his brother, Inuyasha was clearly still fuming as he scrubbed out the rice pot with more force that was strictly necessary and refused to look at his older brother.

Sesshoumaru's gaze instantly went to the hanyou's mouth where his bottom lip was caught under his left fang as he snarled obscenities under his breath.

Turning quickly away, Sesshoumaru tossed the curtain at the human monk. "Fix that."

There was a snort from the pile of fabric but Miroku dutifully went to repair the curtain as Sesshoumaru fixed himself another cup of tea.

Miroku pulled back slightly alarmed as Eiki wandered back in but the demon lord gave the human a sly smirk that had the monk backing up warily. Eiki however continued back towards the table and plopped himself down, taking in the clearly domestic scene before him. Snagging a cup and the teapot, he glanced over at Sesshoumaru curiously.

"By the way Sesshoumaru," he began casually as he set the pot back over the fire and watched Sesshoumaru take a long drink of his tea. "Why, and more importantly when, _did_ you lift your banishment of your brother?"

Needless to say, Sango and Kirara were not pleased with their sudden tea shower courtesy of one Inu Youkai Taishou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really quick, I am still focusing all my attention on my Transformers fanfic which means any other updates for this fic will be few and far between. I'm also horribly behind in the Inuyasha series so I'll have to catch up on that won't I? ... ^^a whoops!


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